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Dental school to display hidden talents
By JESSICA KELTZ
Reporter Contributor
Ten years ago, a few School of Dental Medicine staffers thought it might be fun to give faculty, students and staff a chance to let off some steam by showing off skills that had nothing to do with teeth.
Dental student Don Evans juggles
during last year’s talent show. This year’s event will be held
tomorrow night in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts.
PHOTO: NANCY J. PARISI
"I think what really sparked it for me is I did a summer enrichment program and at the end, one of the groups did a little skit on what we had done that week and it was hilarious," said Elaine Davis, associate professor of oral diagnostic sciences and associate dean for student affairs. Davis and Alan Gross, a former faculty member who died in 1998, put together the school's first talent show, which was held in Harriman Hall on the South Campus.
That first year, 10 acts performed, Davis recalled. Since then, as many as 20 have performed, with the average hovering around 15 or 17.
This year, the show is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. The $5 cost includes a fifty-cent Ticketmaster handling fee, with the rest going to help defray the expenses of putting on the show, such as lighting and paying the crew. The show costs about $3,000 to produce, with the dean's office paying most of that, she said. Refreshments will be offered after the show.
Davis says the purpose of the show is "to develop a sense of community and have a rip-roaring good time." Musical acts are the most common performances, but over the years, performers have included magicians, jugglers, the occasional stand-up comic and more, she said.
"It's mostly light, I would say, and the serious acts are not very serious," Davis said.
She recalled one recent graduate who "did an awesome Frank Sinatra" and another who would make up his own Weird Al-style parodies of popular songs.
"One year he did a Bon Jovi 'I want your teeth, dead or alive,'" she said. "It was hilarious."
This year, she expects one highlight to be the performance of a faculty member who plays the banjo "Woody Guthrie style" and does a tribute to each year's graduating class.
Since Gross's death, the show has been held partially in his memory, with a committee named after him overseeing the funds and supporting the videotaping. Each participant gets a copy of the show on video, Davis said.
She described Gross as a "passionate educator" who could play piano by ear and performed in the show every year.
Davis said the event is a great way for students to get together with each other and their professors, outside of the classroom.
"To me, it's one of the highlights of the whole year—seeing people outside of the dental school and seeing all the talents of our faculty and our staff and our students.
"I have absolutely no talent," she laughed, "so that's why I get to put it (the show) together behind the scenes."