Junior Lindsay Forbes leads Vocal Point in a cover of Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over"
The May Room may not have been filled to capacity, but emotions still ran high on Feb. 10 at the Golisano Children’s Hospital Benefit Concert. The sheer number of performers was impressive, but the real star was the hospital the show was benefitting.
The show started with a few stories of families the hospital had helped, as well as a video about their project for a new building, which would allow them to help many more children in need of treatment.
Vocal Point, UR’s all-female a cappella group, kicked off the show with Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” which had great intent, but fell a little flat. The group bounced back with their last song, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” the group’s alumni song, best known as being performed by The Anderson Sisters. This number suited the group’s dynamic extremely well, and they finished strong.
Sophomore Ethan Lipkind followed, wowing the audience with original compositions and covers. His originals, in particular, seemed popular with the crowd and, equipped with only his vocals and an acoustic guitar, he pulled out an amazing performance.
UR’s newest co-ed a cappella group, Trebellious, got off to a rocky start with Adele’s “Rumor Has It.” However, they hit their stride in their second song, “The General” by Dispatch, and kept improving from there. The set’s capstone was their performance of “Blackbird/Dear Prudence” mashup, making excellent use of their strengths.
Junior Jordan Fontheim, beatboxer for UR’s Yellow-Jackets, performed next, impressing everyone with his incredible rhythmic skills. His performance didn’t last very long, but every minute counted. Following him was After Hours, another of UR’s co-ed a cappella groups, who seemed a little off their game. However, their rendition of Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” was beautiful, and they certainly had energy to spare.
There was an interesting segue from the pure vocal performances to the dance groups in the form of Off Broadway On Campus, UR’s musical theater group. They performed “Gordo’s Law of Genetics” from the musical “A New Brain”, and the number was entertaining, though brief.
Radiance, a group that caters to various styles of dance, performed an entertaining tap number, followed by Sihir Bellydancing Ensemble, whose numbers were well executed and fun. The show closed with the Ballet Performance Group, and though their numbers tended to be dull, their final number, featuring both large groups and soloists, truly showed off how talented some of their members are, and was an excellent way to finish the show.
Despite some mishaps, all these groups came out for a great cause. The Golisano Children’s Hospital is a much beloved portion of the UR Medical Campus and the area’s only children’s hospital. The benefit tugged at the audience’s heartstrings and the evening was fun, lighthearted and entertaining.
Howard is a member of the class of 2013.
