We all know someone who excels at what they do. With Trent’s Got Talent, Trent students have an opportunity to show that skill off.
Put on by the Anne Shirley Theatre Company, Trent’s Got Talent is taking place Jan, 31 from 7pm to 10pm in the Wenjack Theatre.
President and Artistic Director (Musical) for the Anne Shirley Theatre Company Dane Shumak told Arthur, with this year’s show, it was “important for us to provide a venue for diverse performers.”
An astounding 21 acts will be performing including musicians, dancers, comedians, and martial artists, among others.
The night will be split into three blocks of seven acts, with an intermission to follow each block.
Admission is by donation, and all proceeds of the event will be going towards Trent Relay For Life, who will be on hand to give a presentation before the winners are announced.
Shumak tells Arthur, “as opposed to choosing an outright ‘winner,’ the judges will choose acts based on their creativity, flair, originality and the reaction of the audience.”
Shumak is excited about the opportunity Trent’s Got Talent provides students to showcase what they can do.
He told Arthur, “During auditions for Anne Shirley’s shows this year, we saw over 100 students through our doors, with incredible talent and potential. We obviously can’t put all of these people in shows, and so these students end up discouraged – despite the fact that they’re unbelievably talented.
“For Trent’s Got Talent, we wanted to open it up to students of all sorts of skill sets, where there is no avenue to truly showcase themselves in a major university setting.”
While the official list of performers has not been released yet, Shumak insists that each one will be astounding.
This is the first year Trent’s Got Talent has taken place. Shumak says this is thanks to the levy increase Anne Shirley was awarded in last year’s TCSA General Election.
“I think what Anne Shirley promised last year in our levy campaign has really begun to ring true this year – we are a group motivated to encouraging the success of the arts at the university, through funding, partnerships and event planning,” Shumak stated.
“Our goal with the levy was for more student opportunity, and I think this fits that mandate perfectly.”
Another post-levy Anne Shirley collective, The SKIT, will be on hand between the first and second block of performers.
Trent’s Got Talent takes its name from Simon Cowell’s Got Talent franchise of television talent shows. However, Shumak assures that there will be “no big “X” buzzers.”
And thankfully Ryan Seacrest wasn’t chosen as host either.
That honour went to Sako Khederlarian.
The judges are made up of Trent professors Carolyn Kay, Liam Mitchell, Marrie Mumford, and Brenda Smith-Chant.
