Multi-talented students wow at annual show

Chloe Chidester
In Motion Staff Writer

When Daytona State College Professor Suzanne Stewart of the School of World Languages and Speech started directing Spanish plays at the College, she never expected that they would snowball into the project now known as the Multicultural Show.

Every year, Stewart recruits students from her Spanish classes, DSC faculty and people from the communities in and around Daytona Beach to perform funny skits, sing songs, recite poetry or do interpretive or traditional dances on stage.

While these performers may be amateurs, they certainly know how to bring an audience to its feet.

“The students were all so great!” says Soraya Colvin, a barista at The Bean in Building 210. “I loved this show so much. I’m going to sing next time!”

Colvin learned about the event from students in The Bean the same day as the show, and she was ecstatic to hear about it and immediately rounded up a group of friends to go see the show with her. She was so taken with each musical number that she says she could barely contain her excitement. Instead of getting up and dancing, however, Colvin contented herself with swaying her arms and humming along.

Preston Johnson, an English and Philosophy student, heard about the show from his friend Alyssa. He thinks that the show is a wonderful idea and only wishes that it would happen more than once a year.

“I’m glad to see Daytona State doing this. I come from Stetson and they do this every Thursday. I’d like to see DSC do it more often. Maybe the SGA can do something about that,” Johnson says.

Professor Stewart is extremely proud of the show and all of her students, and she filmed the entire show to prove it. Though the cut will not be aired on WDSC15 in its entirety, students can expect to see clips of it in commercials that Stewart hopes will entice them into performing in the showcase.

“The people at DSC work together to make things easier,” says Department Chair of the School of World Languages and Speech, Ray Cornelius, who not only performed a traditional Colombian folkloric dance but also helped Stewart with some of the administrative responsibilities. “The show is the perfect balance between a student production and a professional production.”

Ricky Allen, who sang a show-stopping rendition of Marc Anthony’s “Y Hubo Alguien,” joined the cast because of his wife, who is a student at DSC. He has been singing since he was 15 years old and was extremely happy to be able to perform in the showcase.

“It was a very warm, artistic environment,” Allen says. “I enjoyed working with everyone very much. I think I might sign up for it next year, too, if I can.”