Disclaimer: This article contains content that may not be suitable for younger students.
On Wednesday April 8, the AIR Student Council curated a production to celebrate our LGBTQ+allies community here at Episcopal. The production welcomed any kind of performance that celebrated the LBTQ+ community, like poetry, acting, singing, speeches and visual art.
The Sikes was full with colorful decorations and fun activities like Allison Pina’s ‘27 face painting station and Ava Frommer ‘27 and Langley Hayes’s ‘29 delicious sweets station, personally baked by them.
Presented by Kennedy Cruse-Scott ‘27, the production started with Ruby Evert’s ‘27 interpretation of “An American Poem,” by Eileen Myles. “I choose ‘An American Poem’ because it has many commonalities with my life experiences,” said Evert. Evert also later performed in a scene from the upcoming theater production Almost Maine.
Up next was the wonderful performance by Maggie Pajac ‘27, who performed to David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” Maggie, who is always able to make the crowd laugh and have fun, encouraged the audience to dance during her performance, really bringing up the energy and vibes in the room, while also uniting the audience in this special moment.
Singing “Grow for Me,” from Little Shop of Horrors, and “Everybody Talks,” by Neon Trees, was Luchas Kuchler ‘27 accompanied by Joshua Mason ‘27 on the guitar. These two songs portrayed character growth.
Peyton Humphrey ‘29 went on to discuss the idea that the queer community in leadership is an idea that is rising in awareness. She highlighted impactful queer leaders, who shaped the world while having to hide their sexuality as it was not accepted being queer. Her speech showed how queerness does not have to be an obstacle in one’s success.
Then, Mattia Pozzoni ‘26 performed a scene from Hamlet, which is also what he directed as a senior capstone. He portrayed the struggles many queer people face, like thoughts of suicide, hoping to raise awareness for suicide prevention as it impacts 20% of queer population.
Understudies of the scene “They Fell,” from the upcoming play, Almost Maine also performed. The scene portrayed two best friends, who are women, who actually fell on the ground when falling in love.
For the last performance, Jessie Cimino-Durden ‘27 and Ms. Julie Durden, on the guitar, sang together Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”. Their meaningful performance as mother and daughter, brought a wholesome and fun end to the production, as the crowd sang along with them.
In conclusion, this was a beautiful performance and celebration of our LGBTQ+allies community at ESJ. Each performance was meaningful, and impacted and moved many, as they felt supported and represented as this production brought awareness to all in our community.
Over the Rainbow positively affected Ava Frommer ‘27 in realizing that “people are there for you no matter what and that you are not alone and that everybody matters!”
We should also remember that even though this is celebrated only once a year, we should never forget and support every person around us in our community.
A special thank you to AIR Student Council, Ruby Evert who led the event, Dr. Derrick King, and Ms. Julie Durden for collaboration in organizing, setting up, and supporting the annual “Over the Rainbow” event.
Image courtesy of Ruby Evert ’27.
