Step out onto the main stage and remember to sparkle! Here's where performers post getting ready and doing their show-stopping performances. Remember to breathe, you'll do so good out there!
**This is for Performances & Backstage action. People viewing should be in the other stage thread! Thanks!**
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2025 9:51 pm
xxಇ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?The Main Stage xxxಇ.Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Lots of people! xxxxಇ.Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?My Big Performance! xxxxxಇ.Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?I really hope everyone liked it!
Tambry had been preparing and practicing a routine fit for the big Talent Showcase. Better yet, her parents were able to get the weekend off work and make it back home in time to use the floo to be there! It was far from her first performance, but it was definitely a bigger crowd than usual. Besides, half the people outside were classmates, and if she mistimed a step, she'd be a laughing stock! Before her turn, Mère had slipped backstage to carefully help pin up her curls so they'd be out of her face, then tie a crown of silk roses around her hair. "Merci! Souhaitez-moi bonne chance!" Tambry called over, before Mère blew over a kiss.
After the performance before hers ended, Tambry lifted the black and blue wheel to carry it up on stage. Looking out at the gathered audience, Tambry found her parents and a weight lifted up off her shoulders. "Bonjour! My name is Tambry Hattley, a fourth year Ravenclaw, and I am going to do a dance and cyr wheel performance." She nodded back toward the side, setting herself in position as the music kicked in. Just like she'd practiced, Tambry did her dance, using the wheel to do acrobatic moves. It was the longest three minutes before finally it was done. She did a bow, before waving and heading off stage with a grin.
It was finally time! Seb and Ella had been practicing for months for this, and it was all for Alice! Mama and Miss Nora had also helped with some of the words, but honestly, a lot of it was Ella. She'd helped him write down the words, helped him figure out how the song should flow, and heck, she'd written the full piano accompaniment! It was a soulful piece, and he really, really hoped it helped his girlfriend... his best friend... feel a little better. Safer, loved... all that good stuff.
It was close to the end of the year, and it'd be another train ride home with Alice sobbing in his arms. He wanted this moment to reassure her. To make sure she knew he, Ella.... heck, everyone loved her! As he walked behind the stage and started getting ready, he was a bit startled when Ella appeared like magic behind him. "You ready for this, Ells? I saw your sister and brothers out there. And I walked Alice and Mama up myself. So all our favorite people will be there." Ella nodded, though she did seem a little nervous. Probably because this would be her first real public performance. Linsey and Finn and a lot more of her new family were familiar on the stage, but Ella had always been more of a wallflower.
"I... think so. We've practiced a lot and I know the notes. This is just my first song today." Her voice was quiet and she sounded... hesitant, maybe? Afraid, more likely. So, in the spirit of helping people feel better, Seb pulled her into a hug. He wasn't expecting much, but feeling her little hands pat his back was reassuring. Even if she was still quiet, Ella'd gotten a lot more open. Just as he was letting her go, Yarrick appeared, looking tired. "You guys are up. Don't forget to introduce yourselves."
Seb offered a hand over to Ella, escorting her up the few steps and onto the stage. She hurried over to the piano that had been brought up onto the stage while he stepped to the center. After briefly tripping over his own feet, Seb laughed and looked over at Alice in the crowd. "Hi guys! My name's Sebastian Moon, and that's Ella Grey-Cavendish on the piano. Together we wrote a song for one of our very favorite people." He sent over another smile toward Alice, then nodded back toward Ella, who began the soft piano music. Drawing in a breath, Seb began to sing the song they'd worked so hard to create.
When they were done and the piano notes had faded, Seb awkwardly bowed before walking back over to Ella. Taking her hand once more, they walked down the steps and he hurried to find Alice to see if she liked it too.
xx♪ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?Main Stage xxx♫ Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Most of the school, plus parents and jazz xxxx♪ Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Performance xxxxx♫ Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?Gotta love performing
Roman was eagerly waiting for his moment to perform the bit he'd been working on and when it was his turn, he started getting the stage set up. Really he just needed to get his recording playing and make sure that he timed it right. Once everything was set up, he walked over to the microphone. "Hey all, most of you don't really know me yet but, uh, I'm Roman Drayer. I, uh, transferred here from Salem. Anyway, this piece is all me. I spliced together myself playing other instruments and I'm gonna play my sax for you. I hope y'all like it." He picked up his sax, then glanced off stage towards the nice but quiet girl who was acting as the stage director was. "Hit that jawn for me?" he asked, pointing to the recorder. Once the music started, he brought his sax to his lips and belted out the tunes.
xx♫ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?On stage xxx♪ Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Roxie, Jo, and the whole damn school xxxx♫ Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Performance!! xxxxx♪ Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?Let's kill it!!!
After doing sound check off stage in a silenced area, Arcana Mysticka was ready to go on stage. Liv was super pumped for the performance and waiting for the queue for them to get set up. She helped get the drum kit assembled, then made sure her microphone was also prepared. The raven haired girl checked with the two blondes as well, then looked out at the audience. Her mother and Muggle best friend were there, which was pretty freaking awesome. She picked up her guitar and slipped it over her shoulder, then pushed it around to her back. Grabbing the microphone off the stand, then said, "Hello Hogwarts! I'm Liv Scott-Wright and with me on bass is Roxie Archer, on drums is Jo Valkova, and we're Arcana Mysticka!" She fastened the microphone back to the stand, then pulled her guitar around to the front. Strumming it a couple times, she leaned into the mic again. "This first one's called Everybody's Fool. I hope you like it." After the song finished, they stopped for a second and Liv added, "Our last song is called Going Under." Once their songs were finished, Liv helped break down their set up so that they could clear the stage for the next act.
xx♡Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?On Stage! xxx♡Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Liv & Jo xxxx♡Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Arcana Mystica Performance xxxxx♡Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?We've got this perfected
Roxie had, of course, been down to play when Lewis announced the showcase. It was about three seconds before Liv all but tackled her saying the band could play. As they practiced Liv's songs, the girls got the music perfected. When the day finally came, Roxie had opted for a more neon pink version of her usual attire, with tall heels and lots of color. She brought both her bass and her violin to the stage, but for different performances. Her violin was left back stage while they did their tune-ups, then Roxie followed Liv onto the stage. She let her friend do the announcing, then nodded toward both Liv and Jo. When given the go, Roxie started strumming on her bass, keeping perfect pace with her group. After the first song came a moment of applause, followed by their second. And it all went so well!
Finneas MacDavis-Grey Gryffindor │ Fourteen Year │ Fourteen Years Old │ Single
To be honest, Finn had been waiting for this show all year, and signed up for it pretty much on the hour the sheet was posted. While it wouldn’t be as crazy as Linsey’s Carnivale was, when he performed three nights straight with the Causeway Hares, the Mad Rabbits, and on his own for the talent show sandwiched between, he still wanted to make a splash, and he didn’t know how many more such shows would take place while he was still at school. Of course, once he was signed up for the show, the hard part came: figuring out exactly what he wanted to do, and what he could pull off.
From the outset, he wanted to do at least a duet with Ella, as she’d come so far from the little Second Year who was scared when they found her playing the piano down in the Music Room, and he’d been teaching her how to play violin since then. Originally, he wanted to do ‘Dueling Violins’, or one of the reels he knew, but Ella hadn’t progressed enough to be ready for any of that. She was still a bit screechy at times, and he wasn’t so sure she could keep up or was comfortable with improvisation. Thankfully, she was comfortable playing backup for him on the piano, while Linsey handled all the visuals, cast Charms to handle certain other tasks, and was playing electric guitar. Finn also wanted the chance to sing and play guitar, so he came up with the set list he would be performing today.
For today, Finn was wearing a pair of black dress pants and shoes, along with a matching vest, and a white dress shirt with full, puffed sleeves, reminding him of something from Linsey’s closet, but this was something he wore when on tour with the Hares. “Dia duit, Hogwarts. I am Finneas MacDavis-Grey, Fourth Year from Gryffindor House, and you’ve already met my brilliant accompanist, Ella Grey-Cavendish, and I’m introducing to some here, her sister, Linsey Grey-Cavendish. So, a pair of Mad Rabbits, plus one, an’ ‘ere we go.”
The first song he did required a bunch of coordination, as Linsey provided the drums, electric guitar, and used a Charm to make Ella’s piano sound like a modern set of keyboards. Linsey also provided the illusions of him playing with eight other Finns at some points in the song, along with a crowd dancing around him at other points. ‘Viva La Vida’ was always a fun song play, and he was playing David Garrett’s iconic arrangement.
The second song was more sedate, and it really showcased how good a pianist Ella was, as it was mainly her playing and him singing on Marc Cohn’s ‘Walking in Memphis’, with Linsey providing percussions and the organ courtesy of a sound Charm, along with a backing gospel choir at the end of the song.
“This last piece is for Linsey and Serghei,” he said, as he picked up the steel guitar for the last song. “It’s my hope some day to hear Serghei sing this to her.” It was then and Ella started playing ‘True Companion’, also by Marc Cohn. At some point he traded the guitar for his violin for the ending.
OOC:
Username
Floating free as a bird Sixty foot leaps it's so absurd From up here you should see the view Such a lot of space for me and you
Oh you'd like it Gliding around get your feet off the ground Oh you'd like it Do as you please with so much ease
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 8:23 pm
Jo was pumped. Even more than she thought she would be. The whole band/drumming thing was something she was necessarily keeping on the downlow, but she didn't talk about it much outside of Liv and Roxie. Now the whole school, and even some visitors, were going to see her perform. Her parents weren't there, of course. Because she hadn't invited them. And it wasn't like they'd bother to know something like the festival was going to happen. She pushed the unbidden thought out of her head. She didn't even know why she was thinking about this now, of all times. She brushed a blonde hair from her face and the thought away with it.
When it was their turn, Jo took a seat at her drumset, holding one stick in the air for a moment as she waited for her cue. She started off on the steady beat, immediately letting herself get swept away in the music. After how much she'd practiced, the drumming came naturally. Her eyes closed for a moment, feeling the music in her whole body. She was made for this. They moved on to their second song, which went just as well. The crowd applauded, and Jo burst into a full-face smile. Oh yeah. This was it. This was the feeling she chased. Doing something she loved and getting praise for it. It was sort of addicting if she was honest. She had a feeling this would not be her last show. Hopefully, far from it.t
xx❈Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?The Main Stage xxx❈Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Dad (and lots of others!) xxxx❈Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Playing in the Showcase xxxxx❈Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?I hope they all liked it! xxxxxx❈Wʜᴀᴛ's ᴍʏ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ?Musical
Poppy was super duper excited. She was going to get to play her harp for a big crowd, including her parents! There were a ton of performances, but as soon as she'd gotten her timeslot, she worked on getting her harp case wheeled out to the outside. It was backstage that she got it all set up and ready, then found her dad to ask if he would so kindly help her carry it up the stairs. Of course, he'd agreed to help out. As time got closer, Poppy's hair swirled a multitude of colors. With hope, her best friends would be there to watch too, even though they'd seen her practicing through the months.
When her turn finally came up, she squealed happily, skipping up the steps and onto the stage while her dad carried the harp and set it up on its stand. "Hello! My name is Poppy Daddle. I'm a second year Slytherin and a harpist. It took a lot of deciding, and help from my best friends, Zoe and Pàdraig, to figure out what song to play. We decided on 'Beauty and the Beast'. I really hope you like it!" After making sure her dad had made it back to the audience beside mum, she moved to stand beside her harp. Drawing in a deep breath, her fingers carefully started strumming over the wires as the melody began to play. Once she had finished and the notes gently faded, Poppy turned to bow as her dad hurried around the corner to help carry the harp back down the steps, Poppy grinning excitedly as they walked offstage.
xx♡Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?On Stage! xxx♡Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Everyone! xxxx♡Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Solo Performance xxxxx♡Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?I love this song!
After the Arcana Mystica performance went super well, Roxie was ecstatic. She'd also signed up for a solo with her electric violin, and she was excited to perform. Her whole family would be there, including Kylian, fresh off his big US tour. Sure enough, she spotted him and Zoe, plus their two daughters, over with Fin and Chadwick and their two daughters as well. This was awesome! Liv was also still backstage, waiting on a second performance with Ella, who was doing... like five? Some absolutely crazy amount, anyway.
Once Poppy and her dad got her harp off stage, Roxie grinned over toward her best friend than hurried up the stairs with her beloved pink violin in hand. "Hello, hello! I'm back again! My name is Roxanne Archer, and I'm also something of a violinst." She grinned, before continuing. "This is a song I wrote called 'What About Us,' and I really hope you like it as much as I do." She nodded offstage for the background music (that she'd recorded earlier) to begin as she twirled her bow before starting the electric tones of the song. She danced around as she played, letting the melody move her.
With the final notes fading, Roxie let it fade before applause picked up. She bowed happily, sending a grin over toward her family before stepping offstage once more. It was exhilarating! Hopefully she'd get so, so many more chances to play on stage, front and center, because that was awesome!
xx❅Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?The Main Stage - Hogwarts Grounds xxx❅Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Seph xxxx❅Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Performing in the Showcase! xxxxx❅Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?I really hope she likes this!
Adelai had been planning for the showcase for a while, with a bit of extra hopes to impress a certain someone. He'd been debating between a few songs, before settling on one he thought would be perfect. He finished writing the tune for it, making sure he'd be super grand. He and Seph had spent most of the showcase together before he slipped aside to head to the stage. Oh man, this would be his first public performance! Well, not counting his theramin song in primary.... but that wasn't quite the same thing.
After the song ahead of his had faded, Adi carefully stepped up the few stairs with help from his walking frame. He walked over to the center, carefully adjusting the mic stand to his height. "Hello! My name's Adelai Hasenpfeffer-Bates. I'm going to sing a song I wrote for a certain someone. I call it Anything 4 U. Here we go." He twirled his wand and the background music (all designed and mixed by him over the winter break) began. He dove into the music, seeming ever happy during the upbeat tune.
xx❅Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?The Main Stage xxx❅Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Olivia and several other friends xxxx❅Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Hogwarts Talent Showcase xxxxx❅Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?I can't believe I did that!
Oh man. As performers stepped up to do their showcases, Ella could feel her heart rate climbing. What if she messed up? What if she got too scared to go? She could feel her hands trembling, wishing she'd never been brave enough to sign up. She was debating on running away when someone walked over. She turned to look, seeing Lewis crouched down beside her. "Hey you. Are you feeling a little worried?" His voice was quiet, just loud enough for her to hear him speak. She nodded, and he offered a small smile. "I know that it's a big step, and those can be pretty scary, but I also know how brave you are. I know you're a very strong person, and I know that you've been wanting to let your feelings out in a big sort of way for a while now, haven't you?" Again, she nodded, accepting a tissue from the Ravenclaw. "When you get up on stage, look out and focus on your sister. Linsey's here. So are your parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends... There's so many people here to support you. Just focus on them and it'll be just like singing with Linsey and Finn. Do you need a pre-show hug?" Ella offered a tiny smile before stepping into a warm embrace from Lewis. "Thank you."
With her nerves handled somewhat, Ella fluffed the fancy dress she and Bieito had worked together to make. She wanted to surprise her big sister with that one. Lewis went to go find Liv and bring her over to the younger Hufflepuff, who offered a hand to her Gryffindor friend. She was still a bit shaky when they climbed the steps together, especially when Liv split off to go to the piano. Ella stepped over to the microphone in the center, carefully grabbing it down while her dark eyes glanced over to find friendly faces.
"Um... h-hello. My name is Ella Grey-Cavendish and this is Olivia Scott-Wright on piano. Th-thank you."
She looked back at Olivia, giving her a hesitant nod. Somehow, with the piano cued up and having spotted her family, the words came naturally, and at a powerful volume. It was just like practice! And Lewis was right, it felt so, so good to let the words free! She didn't even waver on the longer notes! It felt so good! After her final words, Liv faded the piano out artfully, and everyone seemed to erupt into applause. She did a little bow, a bright flush on her face as she put the mic back and hurried to the side. With her hand taking Olivia's once more, she carefully walked down the steps before letting out the heavy breath she'd been subconsciously holding. Giving her friend a hug, Ella felt so glad that she had indeed taken to the stage. Now she just had to go find her family and hide behind them for a while.... though that might be difficult in a princess dress.
xx♫ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?On stage xxx♪ Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Ells and the audience xxxx♫ Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Performance 2! xxxxx♪ Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?Kill it Ells!
Arcana Mysticka's performance had been aces but Liv had another performance to do on the stage. This time she was supporting Ella on the piano. The teen had learned the instrument pretty easily with Ella's tutelage and now she was supporting her friend for a song. They'd practiced it a lot and Liv knew that Ella was really nervous about it. Before their turn had come up, Olivia had given her a pep talk. The girl was naturally still really nervous though so Liv happily held her hand as they took the stage. Grinning at her friend, she gave her a nod, then waited for Ella to announce them. It was barely a squeak, but she got it out. Then Liv started to play the song and let Ella kill it on the vocals. After the song, Liv helped Ella off stage, then was surprised when the girl hugged her. "You killed it out there Ells," Liv said, returning the hug.
xx✯ Wʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀᴍ I?The Main Stage xxx✯ Wʜᴏ ɪs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ?Everyone! xxxx✯ Wʜᴀᴛ's ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴏɴ?Talent Showcase Finale xxxxx✯ Wʜᴀᴛ'ʀᴇ ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs?I'm gonna miss this place
Everything had gone off flawlessly. All the displays were up, lots of the food had gotten eaten up, and everyone seemed positively thrilled. He'd gotten to see friends who had graduated, plus meet several younger siblings, including Tamhas' sassy little sister. He even spotted Linsey long enough to give her a hug before Wendel insisted he be backpacked over to get a cookie from Alice's stand. Apparently she and Seb had been doing excellent in their delightful treats, which was great news.
The main showcase was also going off without a hitch, with oodles of applause from happy families. It was fantastic! He occasionally popped backstage, half to check on Yarrick (and sneak her food) and half to make sure no one was freaking out about their performances. Thankfully, there were only a couple that seemed hesitant at all. Shortly before the last few songs, he'd found his sister and cousins, depositing Wen with them before running away (since Wen was far from the fastest runner). Lewis slipped backstage once more, this time to check on a specific someone. Despite having gone on stage a few times already, Ella was shaking so hard it looked like she was going to fully fall apart.
Thankfully, she was okay after a quick pep-talk and a little extra support from Liv. He watched from the top of the stairs as they rocked their performance. Once they were done, Lewis gave Ella a shoulder pat before walking onto the stage himself. "Well hello, Hogwarts! For those that don't know me, my name is Lewis Abrams. I'm the one that hatched this harebrained scheme for a huge showcase of all our awesome students and their insane talents. And now, it's my turn, I suppose." He chuckled softly, then drew in a deep breath as he looked over the crowd.
"I want to start by saying thank you to everyone that came together to set this up. From the Professors and Prefects to the countless student volunteers we had. Yarrick Knapp led some of our Drama team to work all the sound and lights, plus doing all the scheduling, which I apparently cannot do myself. Certainly also to Su Afolayan, who had to deal with my Red Bull infused rambling since we got our Head Student letters. Even the families that came out to support us today make a huge impact, so thank you guys too! Without each and every helping hand, we wouldn't have gotten half this far. I also want to thank every student who put their art on display, made some amazing foods, or performed up here today. There were so many fascinating talents to see and it was phenomenal. Every single person here is such an awesome, wonderful person, and I can say with all honestly I'm going to miss all of my classmates next year, but I'm so excited for everyone to keep growing, keep learning new skills, and perhaps surprise me later on with how much you've grown. Thank you all again for coming out today, and please enjoy our final display, put on by Yarrick Knapp, who said she'll not step one foot on this stage."
Lewis laughed happily, eyeing the teen backstage. The two shared a nod, then Yarrick twirled her wand. She'd spent several hours setting up an intricate fireworks display (no doubt on her older brother's instruction), which began to light up the dimming sky. Lewis hopped off stage and over to his family, so he could admire the finale to a long, busy day for a few minutes. Of course, it'd be even more work to do clean up... especially since he also had to keep studying for NEWTs.... but in just a few weeks he'd be graduated and starting in with Montrose. It was crazy how fast time had flown. Seven years had gone in a flash, and yet, had been slow enough to cultivate so many friendships (and more, on a couple notes!). He leaned into his dad as the older brunette gave him a hug, whispering a quiet note of pride which made Lewis grin. Yep. This was a new chapter, but he was excited to take the leap.
