Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Patel Conservatory veterans perform at local benefit

Several Patel Conservatory veterans performed recently at a benefit concert for the Arts Council of Plant City.
“It was a fun, enlightening experience with such amazing talent,” said Ryan Caudill, former Patel Conservatory administrative assistant.

The concert, at the Red Rose Inn in Plant City, was part of the council’s annual banquet. The show was directed and produced by Cheryl Worsham, who saw The Wiz at the Patel Conservatory and got the idea to ask the students if they wanted to perform at the banquet.


Several past and present Patel Conservatory students performed, including Ian Burns (The Wiz), Gigi Burns (Adult Jazz Voice Ensemble), Luis Colon (T.A. for Seussical the Musical, Jr., choreographer for LOL: The Musical), and Ben Mercado (The Wiz, Adult Jazz Voice Ensemble, Fame).
“What made the rehearsals fun was the hands-on process of our meetings,” said Caudill. “As a team, we searched several song selections until we found the right ones for each individual artist.”


The group sang danced to a variety of songs including My Girl, You Should Be Dancing, Living La Vida Loca and Total Eclipse of the Heart. The pieces were choreographed by Luis Colon and Ben Mercado.
The venue was beautiful and the audience responded enthusiastically, said Caudill. “It reminded me why I love being a performer so much!”

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