By Kate Delaney ’16
Three times a year, Prep students are brought together by the Friday afternoon magic that is Coffee House. After that last bell rings, students flock to the theater to experience the singing, poetry, comedy acts, piano playing, and dancing that displays the raw talent of their peers. This past Friday was the last of the year, and brought about feelings of nostalgia for seniors both performing and watching. Despite these bittersweet emotions, the theater was filled to the catwalk with excitement and anticipation from those in the crowd.
To start out the fun-filled afternoon, four members of PULSE showed why they are the most loved dance team. Freshmen Anisha Patton, Christine Lee, Maddie Swanborn, and Al Bernal strutted their stuff in an in sync and sassy performance that got the crowd ready to dance and made any other Friday night fun seem unnecessary. In a surprise guest appearance, Senior Margaret Daur came all the way across the hill from Holy Names to sing “The Prayer” with Dan Ostrander ’14, accompanied by another guest, Travis Frank, on piano. Using their best Bocelli and Celine Dion impressions, Daur and Ostrander showed off their beautiful voices.
While sports are not usually thought to be involved in Coffee House, the tennis team managed to prove those preconceived notions wrong. Luke Targett ‘14, Emily Savidge ‘14, and Meghan Zech ‘15 sang “Gravity” and played their instruments while Mary Anne Santucci ‘14 and Mckenzie Frazier ‘17 provided moral support. Emily Savidge continued her Coffee House performance with a song relating to what all seniors are thinking about, moving on, leaving Prep, and going to college. Evan Sarantinos ’16 played an acoustic version of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I’ll Follow You into the Dark” and soothed the audience with this sweet song. The Petgrave sisters both made appearances in this spring’s Coffee House, with Anna Petgrave ‘17 singing, and CB Petgrave ‘14 rapping with support in the audience from her Theology class.
Siena Jeakle ‘15 dedicated her song to her grandma, who was in the crowd. Her guitar strumming was enjoyed by all, and she dismissed the conventional Coffee House guitar seated position to stand with one leg on a chair, bringing chuckles from many in the audience. Lily Dowling ‘17 once again did not fail to amaze onlookers, singing an original song. Her performance brought tears to the eyes of many, and provided excitement for her next three years at Coffee House. Another senior, Annika Perez-Krikorian, finished off her Coffee House career by singing a song by Adele and playing her ukulele. Mr. Ellinger surprised everyone by reciting a poem in his Irish accent. He began by giving a shout-out to all of his AP Statistics students who had taken their AP test the very same day. Milo Dowling ‘15 and Marnel Ramirez ‘17 each played the piano, with Marnel taking on The Fray and Milo creating music on the spot in another amazing performance. Juan Bernal ‘16, Elena Joseph ‘16, Kit Tobin ‘15, and Tina Bermudez ‘15 all sang in solo performances, proving that Prep students are filled with talent. Saba Farwell ‘14 closed off the afternoon by reading an original poem.
MCs Charlie Schafer ’14 and Rachel Carlson ’14 provided entertainment and organization throughout the show, and pulled off another successful Coffee House. With the occasional all of the talent, fun, and occasional coffee and snacks, there is no reason to not come to Coffee House. Unfortunately, there are no more opportunities this year, but it’s never too early for Prep students to sign up and mark their calendars for fall coffee house 2014.
