Some familiar voices are back for the fourth edition of Morristown’s Got Talent!, which will trot out a more traditional lineup than the one that saw a pair of novelty acts finish one-two last winter.
Dane Glynn and Danny Dones, Morristown High School students who gave strong vocal performances back in March, are among 16 acts that will compete for the $1,000 top prize at the Community Theatre on Feb. 23.
Other top-notch high school talent includes Jenny Shih, a classical pianist who also is a standout tennis player, and Gloria Bangiola, who starred in the recent school production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and sings with the school’s jazz choir and the Harmonium Choral Society. Dane and Danny also appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Another MHS student, Joey Gatto, will be doing a beat-boxing routine. Aaron Velasquez took first place two years ago with a beat-boxing act.
MHS alum Keisha Johnson Mendoza also made the cut from a field of 90 acts. About 75 of them showed up for Saturday’s audition, a marathon day for volunteers from the Morris Educational Foundation. Last year’s show raised $30,000 for grants to the Morris School District, which serves students from Morristown, Morris Township and Morris Plains.
The contest is open to amateur performers who live, work or attend school in the three towns.
Expect strong competition from Robert Matarazzo, who works at the AT&T Store in Morristown. He gave a terrific rendition of Roy Orbison’s Crying on Saturday. Robert has appeared on stage at the Community Theatre a couple of times over the years.
Our video from Saturday includes Robert, Jenny, Gloria, Keisha and a couple more finalists; they are highlighted in bold.
Here are the finalists:
“Last year, we had a fiddler and a whistler” as winners, said Debbie Sontupe of the Morris Educational Foundation. “This year it’s very traditional.”
Go Matarazzo! Wish I could be there to see the competition.