The tension was palpable at the Fox Theatre on Saturday night, the evening of the Centralia/Chehalis Kiwanis and Soroptimist Youth Talent Show.
Twenty acts, made up of some of Lewis County’s most gifted youth, sang, danced, played
instruments and performed monologues for an enthusiastic crowd. But this wasn’t just a variety show: it was a competition, the conclusion of which led to the theater, filled with spectators and performers, waiting with bated breath to hear the judges announce the winners of the very competitive 9-13 year old category.
When the announcement came – “Pele Scott and Leira Wilson!” – the crowd erupted with cheers and applause as the two 7th graders made their way to the stage, dressed in white, arms raised in a victory, dancing down the aisle.
The Adna community is proud of the girls. As the Adna Theatre director, I’ve seen that the two are quite driven for being so young. They worked extraordinarily hard on their piece and they truly deserved this win. We are all proud of them. They represented our school well.
Pele and Leira are both 7th grade students from Adna Middle School, and are devoted to theater arts.
They got their first taste of the spotlight when they participated in Adna’s fall production, “10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse.” It was then that they decided they wanted to perform beyond the walls of the school.
The Youth Talent Show gave them just that opportunity, Leira said. “My grandpa, Mike Vinatieri, is part of the Kiwanis Club, and he gave me a flyer.” Laughing, she added, “I gave it to Pele, so she signed us both up without talking to me.”
At the time, the girls were working on monologues for their after-school drama program. Pele had chosen a monologue called “To This Day” by poet Shane Koyczan. “I originally found this monologue because I love slam poetry,” Leira said. “Sometimes I go to coffee shops where they do this. I went to one in Olympia and someone told me to check out Shane Koyczan and I really liked him. Now he’s my favorite poet.”
As a result, finding a piece to perform was not difficult for Pele. “I thought, ‘why not use the monologue I was already using for drama?’ So we split it up and used it.”
“To This Day” is a powerful piece about self-esteem and the consequences bullying has on children. It is particularly poignant when spoken by youngsters.
The girls leapt at the chance to audition. “We didn’t have time to perfect our monologue before our audition because we had only one day to get ready,” said Leira. “Even though there weren’t really many people there, I was nervous I might forget my lines. When we began, the judges laughed and I thought to myself, ‘this is good!’ Then, when I got to the sad part, my eyes started to water. I got emotional. I even got my dad to cry!” she said.
“I felt good about the audition,” added Pele. “I thought we did really well. I got loud and
Leira started crying. Apparently they liked that.”
The next day, the girls were informed that they’d made the cut and would be finalists in the talent show. “It blew my mind!” Leira said. “I knew we’d done something really good. We did something that stood out.”
That’s when the hard work began. “We spent hours and hours preparing for the competition,” said Leira. “We worked with our drama teacher after school, performed for classes and practiced at home.”
On the night of the competition, the girls were simultaneously anxious and elated. The community turned out in droves to support the talented youth of Lewis County and it was a full house at the Fox Theatre. It was also well attended by fans and friends of Leira and Pele as well. “I felt good because so many people came to the show,” said Pele. “The drama crew even brought us flowers.”
The competition was fierce and the girls knew it was going to be a challenge to clinch a victory. “I had a chance to see all the performances that night. They were very good,” said Leira. “When we first started this, I was sure we would get first place. Then when we went to audition, I thought maybe second. Then later I thought, maybe third. That night I saw the other people in the competition and I thought, ‘maybe we were not going to place at all.’
Undeterred, they refused to let their nerves get the best of them. “I was whispering the monologue quietly to myself while other people were performing,” said Leira. Pele added, “Before the performance, Leira seemed really calm. I’m more the type of person who kind of breaks down beforehand, then on stage I do fine.”
When they took to the boards, their hard work was clearly evident. “We had it down,” Leira said. “We were good. My voice didn’t shake. I found out that I love the spotlight because it blinds you from the audience.” She mimicked, “Hey spotlights! You’re not people!”
Their biggest challenge came while they were waiting to hear the results of the competition, Leira said. “Pele was shifting all around in her seat while we waited,” she said.
The third and second place winners, Karly Brooks and Kaitlynn Mitchel, respectively, both who performed vocal pieces, were announced.
“Then Pele leaned over to me and said, ‘I’m holding on to one last shred of hope, Leira,’” she said. “She was almost standing up in her seat, gripping the arms of her chair.”
When they announced the names of the winners, Leira was startled to find that she was left sitting alone in the audience as Pele had already started running for the stage. “I saw that was Pele booking it down the aisle before they even finished saying her name. It was awesome. Eventually she slowed down and waited for me to catch up.” To the cheers of the crowd, Leira and Pele took a bow.
Pele and Leira intend to continue to perform. “I plan going to audition at the Evergreen Playhouse,” Pele said. Hopefully my partner in crime, Leira, will be joining me. I also plan on doing the talent show again. I already know what I’m doing for next year.”
But their aspirations don’t end at the borders of Lewis County. “Before we’d even joined drama and started working on the monologues, we said to each other, ‘why not audition for Disney?” said.
Pele added, with a smile: “Yeah, I think we’ll audition for Disney.”
