Friday, May 4 marked Choate’s annual Freaky Friday. While some students new to Choate might associate this title with yet another one of Lindsay Lohan’s movie flops, the rest of us know that it is one of the occasions when Choate students can show off their talent. This year’s talent was marked by a rising number of small bands like The White Rose Band of Will Tenney ’10 and Lenny Futterman ’10.
Long before the program’s 8 o’clock start, the SAC was abuzz with the preparations that accompany such a large performance. Guitars rested safely against soft couches while techies and musicians darted hurriedly on and off the stage checking lighting, sound and set up. The audience grabbed couches and chairs, savings spots for the wave of friends that were soon to show. Even Choate’s media was out in full form: eager photographers Janell Boone ’09 and Laura Stephenson ’09 darted around the hubbub, cameras at the ready. Boone, White Rose’s photographer, later said of Freaky Friday, “It was awesome!” Soon enough, it was 8:20, and Choate’s talented students took the stage. A band of seniors began the show, wowing the crowd and bringing forth the Choatie catch phrase of the night, “Definitely.” The band members included Jonny Allen ’07, Joel Reitz ’07, Allic Sivaramakrishnan ’07, and Fred Seddon ’07. Later on the White Rose Band took center stage with a crowd-pleasing performance. Who could forget their eager vocals and Tenney’s “Police Do Not Cross” guitar strap? In addition, Guy Dupont ’09 guest played the drums for them providing the perfect sound. Dupont was one of the most frequent performers of the night. He played the drums, base, electric guitar and even performed main vocals, proving his wide range of talent. He said of his performances, “I must be the first guy to play all the instruments up here.”
Other equally talented performances of the night included a gymnastic triumph performed by Tyler Makepeace ’09 and Kathy Heflin ’07. Together, the pair back flipped, cart wheeled, headless cart wheeled, and pommel horsed their way across the stage causing the host Steve Kwizera ’07 to cry out, “That just killed it!”
Aisha Kibwana ’08 followed, performing a dance to Rihana’s “Umbrella,” which she herself choreographed. Ed Woodhouse ’09 said of Kibwana’s performance, “I’ve got one word for you: ‘Definitely.’” Aisha again brought the crown to a partial standing ovation when she performed with Eloise True ’08. A belly dance, performed by Janelle Fouche ’07 and Elli Nachiva ’08’s to Beyonce and Shakira’s “Beautiful Liar” followed. Finally came the much-awaited hip-hop club performance by renowned Choate dancers Gilbert Tetteh ’08 and Katasi Kulubya ’08 who—this time in Daryl Wells ’07’s words—once again, “Killed it!”
Then the battle of the bands returned once more as Guy Dupont ’09, Rohan Sahai ’09 and Swithin Lui ’09 took to the stage and showed the audience their skills. Anthony White ’07 was also a surprise, practically bringing some audience members nearly to tears with his heartfelt rendition of “His Eyes Is on the Sparrow.” Last, was the talented senior band which consisted of Chris Mullen ’07, Fred Seddon ’07, Elijah Dabney ’07, and John Deutch ’07 with Jin Ha ’08 on vocals. Overall, the night was one chockfull of talent. Laura Zdanski ’09 exclaimed, “Everyone has so much talent; I was really impressed.”
Freaky Friday was an evening not to miss.
Kathy Heflin '07 and Tyler Makepeace '09 astounded the audience with their gravity-defying performance. PHOTO/Ryan Kim '08
