“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. That applies really well here,” said sophomore Mike Kirkland. The variety show May-Hem was presented by the Westfield Theatre Guild May 14 and showcased acts from ukuleles to a comedy quartet.
Freshman Justin Fields, accompanied by sophomore pianist Chris Ick, sang “Go the Distance” which resulted in the loudest applause from the audience at the song’s end. “What he did was amazing and his performance was wonderful. Provoking an emotional reaction in your audience is what theater is all about, and Justin was able to do that incredibly effectively,” said junior Isabel DoCampo.
Act 1 concluded with “Lebedik un Freylekh” and “Havah Nagilah” performed by sophomores Ed Han (violin), Eric Mikalauskas (clarinet), Aidan Hughes (drums), Alex Laitamaki (trumpet), Alex Ying (trombone) and Benji Schwartz (saxophone) accompanied by sophomore Geoffrey Ko on piano. The band invited the audience to get up and dance before beginning their second number.
Han’s violin solo started “Havah” and other May-Hem performers danced in front of the stage and onstage. Hershey brought a chair out to lift sophomore Rob Cassie into the air and all of the performers danced around them in a circle. By the end of the number everyone was laughing and clapping.
Junior Rebecca Skowron and senior Peter Surace entertained with Spamalot’s “The Song That Goes like This.” Their dramatic entrance and exit matched the comical nature of their performance especially with their “competition” for the last bow. Said Surace, “It’s one of my favorite songs because I love Spamalot and it evolved into the performance you saw today.”
The Brad Turner Quartet consisting of Cassie (vocals), sophomore Jeff Marino (vocals), Han (vocals), Ying (keyboard) and Mikalauskas (piano) presented “The Four Chord Song”, a compilation of pop songs that come from the same four chords. Songs included: “Hey, Soul Sister”, “Forever Young”, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” during which they took off their jackets and threw them to the back.
Junior Hannah Margolin sang “Taylor the Latte Boy” and captured the comical tone of the song with voice changes and laughs throughout. Former WHS student Arielle Smelkinson said, “I’ve heard that song so many times and I think that was my absolute favorite.”
At the end of the show Jackson said, “I was really happy to see the turnout…and hopefully next year more people will be able to come and support the theatre guild.”