On September 13, 2022, talented Bulldogs will take the stage for the Annual New Albany High School Talent Show.

One of the few events that kick off the academic year at NA this year is the September Talent Show. Covid has prevented NA from hosting a talent show for the past couple of years, but orchestra director Angela Thomas is determined to change that.

“This year is our first time combining the student talent show and the teacher talent show,” Thomas said. “In the past we had a teacher talent show for a while and then students started asking for one.”

Thomas says that as student enthusiasm grew, she realized she needed to put something bigger together for both staff and students this year.

“This year we decided we would try to pull it all into one thing, especially post Covid where you never know what’s going to happen,” Thomas said.

Mrs. Thomas has previously hosted a number of other events. This year, she will co-host the talent show with French teacher Matt Jacobi.

“I originated Teachers Got Talent in 2015 with Mrs. Thomas’ help,” Jacobi said. “Mrs. Thomas jumped on it this year to get it going and we were trying to make it more teacher and student talent based, hence the name change to NA’s Got Talent.”

Thomas says that her close friendship with Jacobi has made hosting these events much more enjoyable.

“Mr. Jacobi and I have been friends since middle school, we both have always done things with performing arts,” Thomas said.

According to Jacobi, Mrs. Thomas is the one who kicked things off this year. Thomas says that she believes NAHS must showcase all of the unrealized talent that exists with both students and teachers. This year’s talent event places a lot of emphasis on simultaneous student and teacher participation. Jacobi says he finds it amusing to see teachers unwind on stage.

“I still remember Ms. Givens, who we sadly lost last year, getting up there and hamming it up, and Mrs. Burkhart,  who has since retired, being her usual goofy self. Those memories definitely stick in my mind.” Jacobi said. 

Thomas and Jacobi hope to make the talent show a positive memory for everyone in NAHS. They are looking forward to having a variety of acts and performances to make the show a better experience for staff and students.

“The first step is that we are going to have auditions just to kind of see what acts are options,” Thomas said,  “Then we will go through and pull it together to make sure we have a good balance of acts.” 

One of the few rules of the talent show is that there are no rock shows allowed. Thomas says she doesn’t have anything against them, rather the school does not have the means to host one.

“If you’re going to have a band perform you have to have all of the equipment that’s involved,” Thomas said. “It takes a lot of time for set up, it takes a lot of time to take it down, and then balancing out all of those electronics is something that is beyond our capacity to be able to handle.” 

Auditions are due September 2, 2022. Students can submit audition videos via google classroom.

“We set it up to where you would just join the google classroom and then you’re going to submit your video,” Thomas said. “It is set up as an assignment so it just says to submit your video and let us know what you’re performing.”

One of the students who tried out for the talent show was Freshman Victoria Allen, who says that her audition consisted of her singing.

“For the longest time I’ve always liked just showing off what I am able to do,” Allen said. “I thought since this is my first year I can do that and let people know what I can do.” 

This isn’t Allen’s first performance, she has done other performances when she attended Hazelwood Middle School. Allen says she’s always enjoyed sharing her talent with others.

“I’ve been singing since I could talk,” Allen said. “I took singing lessons for quite some time and then I did choir for a while.” 

Singing is only one of the many talents that will take the stage by storm this month, the excitement of watching people perform reminds Thomas and Jacobi how important these events are to our community. 

“I think they’re important, for teachers or students as they allow people to show off their outside of school talents,” Jacobi said. “Let people see what they can do, and that they can let loose a bit.  It’s good for morale, and also shows others, whether students or community, that there is a lot more than meets the eye.”

Thomas says students can expect more talent shows, along with other events, as the year progresses. Many students and staff alike believe that events like the talent show bring our community together.

“Follow your dreams,” Allen said. “Don’t let people get in the way of what you think you’re capable of.”