Christmas is nearly a month away but the Joe and Diana Arlt have already given a precious gift to help young performers.
The Arlts hosted another soldout “Showcase of Talent Show” Friday night in the La Hacienda Recreation Center. They recently donated $4,000 – proceeds from previous Showcases – to the Young Performing Artists group in Wildwood.
They said 21 young performers earned scholarships from the money raised at the all-star Villages’ talent shows the Arlts host every month.
“It’s important to help and encourage young people with the arts and music,” Diana Arlt said. “Music has been such a big part of our lives; we want it to be a big part of their lives. When you see the joy in their faces, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Holiday music was the theme of Friday night’s show and local performers covered the gamut of Christmas music from inspirational to comedy. Watch video of the performance here:
Carolyn Hoffman truly captured the meaning of Christmas as she sang “O Holy Night,” in operatic style. Hoffman is classically trained and her voice was majestic, but it was her heartfelt spirit that powered the song.
“God is everything,” Hoffman said after the performance. “When I sing that song, I feel it and that spirit just comes through.”
Bill Davis also brought the warmth of the season to the old Judy Garland standard, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” He later teamed with Diana Arlt on a cozy and cute, “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”
Jan Lavin brought a red, white and blue holiday mood to Pat Benatar’s “Christmas In America.” Lavin’s vocal was smooth but strong.
The holiday season is a lot of fun and sometimes gets a little goofy.
How else to explain The Travelin’ Shoes Cloggers romping on stage to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” A Capella Gold took a Christmas cruise back to the ‘70s for “Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas.” The song ended, appropriately enough for that decade, with these words: “boogey down.”
Shirley Martin was tempting and flirtatious, looking for more than egg nog on “Santa Baby.” The Broadway Dancers Group kicked up their shoes on “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”
Singer Jeri Lynne Fraser and four of the Questar Dancers — Frank Olive, Richard Blanchard, Bill Krone and David Bradley — combined for a spicy, “The Man With the Bag.” Fraser kept her cool during a brief music mix-up and displayed all the right moves wearing a red-sequin dress.
BJ Odendahl also displayed some stage grit during her number, “We Need a Little Christmas.” Tom Carlyon played keyboards and there were a few technical, electronic glitches early in the number. But those problems were quickly solved and Odendahl and Carlyon delivered a delightful performance.
Wayne O’Banion brought emotion to “Keeper of the Stars,” and Carol Lynch caught a seasonal mood on “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”
Finally, the Aloha ‘O Ka Hula dance group displayed elegance and reverence on a deeply moving, Hawaiian number called, “Haleluia.”
