by Angelica Martinez
Arts and Entertainment Editor
“Showcase ’98,” co-sponsored by Afrikan-American Student Alliance (AASA) and Who Dat Productions, gathered a house full in Founder’s auditorium last Friday night.
The Variety Show delivered its promise to entertain, as was apparent through the crowd’s cheering and screaming when the acts appeared on stage.
Parents, relatives, friends and students were among those who sat patiently waiting for the show to commence. However, they later became enthralled in the action and bounced in their seats to the beats.
Off-campus and on-campus groups like Floor Two Crew energized the audience, leaving them dancing in their seats and cheering for more.
The night began with a “Soul Train” voice announcing the acts. Immediately following, freshman Raishawn Watson took center stage to sing the Black National Anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”
The audience was getting warmed up, as still more and more people walked into the auditorium. The second performance by Vybe featured a group of young women and a man in matching red shirts and black pants, dancing to a groove mix.
The Show, which had its own disc jockey to the side of the stage, was equipped with entertainment before, during and after the show.
There was a 15-minute intermission after about 45 minutes of acts. Special guest performers like SpontAneous and Wood Dwellas hyped the crowd with their own lyrics and rap beats.
The Variety Show included diverse acts which carried poetry, monologues and ballads.
Senior Tiffany Wilcher, organizer of Showcase ’98, along with AASA members, made sure the event continued on even with a couple of technical difficulties.
“I have to give props to the AASA’s secretary, Deette Clay. She literally told me, ‘I want to take over. I want to take control,’ because she knows how I get when I stress out,” said Wicher.
Caren Ireland and Daniel Pulley, hosts of the show, were able to entertain the audience throughout the evening. FTC members interacted with audience members while music was cued for Colletta Garrett, from California State University, Fullerton. She wrote and sang her own piece, “It’s All About You.”
“This year’s show was much better because it wasn’t just rap. We actually had other performances,” said Amber Prince, junior sociology/business major.
Wilcher said “Last year’s show was a rap fest.”
AASA’s production staff worked on contacting the talent for the show.
“We have a production staff that made flyers and distributed them. La Verne is a community, not only a campus, so we wanted to extend it to the community as well,” said Wilcher.
Like all variety shows, “Showcase ’98” had a talent scout in the audience. “Sunshine” said she looked forward to meeting anyone interested in pursuing their talent.
“I believe two people talked to her after the show,” said Wilcher.
Although AASA’s profits have not been determined, Wilcher says the approximate profit at the door was “about $500.”
Prince says the Variety Show was “well worth it,” because “good talent was lined up” and because “it was well organized and put together.”
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.
