UC in the Roaring Twenties.
On the evening of February 24, 2018, Union College stepped back into an era long before its present students’ time to reminisce in the glamour and sparkle of 1920s America at the Rococo Theater in Downtown Lincoln. The event began with a pasta, salad, and bread buffet. Jovan Cross, a sophomore graphic design major, stated, “The pasta was amazing!” Lauren Shields, junior international rescue and relief major, added, “I particularly enjoyed the mushroom pasta.”
After everyone was well-fed, ASB came on stage to introduce the event, or as better remembered, came on stage to have President Anthony Gann give the State of the Union Address. After insults towards some members of his “audience” (consisting of other ASB members) and some indications of who he appreciated most, chaos ensued as each member went backstage with the President leaving last. In a matter of seconds, the President had been knocked back onto the stage. The question the rest of the night, as acted out in sketches throughout the talent show, was which ASB member tried to “kill” the president? The live game of Clue left the audience on edge until the very end when a huge plot twist was revealed. Max Bromme, playing the role of the investigator, actually ended up being the attempted murderer, all as recompense for being chosen last in kickball and having his lunch money stolen in elementary school. Racquel Amich, sophomore international rescue and relief major stated, “The plot twist at the end of the play was crazy!”
In addition to Clue, students enjoyed many other aspects of the event as well. Lauren Shields stated, “The venue is very cool. I’m glad they reused it.” Other students were astounded by the excellent performances put on by other students in the talent show. Christianna Nesmith, a sophomore pre-nursing major, exclaimed, “I liked the original songs--Kailani on the ukulele and the combination medley [junior business administration and social work major, Angenita Pierre-Louis and senior nursing ?? major, Matthew Zacharias]. As for the song from the Greatest Showman [by freshman Cassidy Via], in the movie that was the song when she was on stage singing with her friends and the lights changed and that’s what happened tonight! It was so artistic and cool!”
While stealing the hearts of the audience, but not claiming the prize at the end of the night, UC Boyz were remembered by many event-goers. Giovanni Agra, a junior nursing major, stated, “I loved the men’s ministry boy band.” Shields added, “I think the UC Boyz poured out their hearts with that performance and were not given a fair shot at the championship.”
The evening ended with the announcement of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place talent show winners, selected by Mr. and Mrs. Canine and Maile and Drew Mekelburg. 3rd place winner, junior film major Ethan Fishell, captivated the audience with a nostalgic performance by Muppet, Kermit the Frog. 2nd place winner, freshman general studies major, Kailani Cotton, impressed the judges and audience with an original song. And 1st place winners, Angenita Pierre-Louis and Matthew Zacharias stole the show with their medley of love songs. Congratulations to the winners, well done for all performers, and thank you ASB for putting on a memorable event!
Kayla Miller is a junior studying nursing.