The Arts at St. Margaret’s presented the 2024 Tartan Revue in the Marcus D. Hurlbut Theater last week, a one-night only performance in the 450-seat venue directed by Chris Carbajal. Mr. Carbajal arranged the music and produced tracks that the House Band members played. House Band members included Sally Chow ‘24, Allie Dandel ‘25, Alisa Jiang ‘27 and Leo Kitaen ’24 (violins), Helen Zhang ‘27 (viola), Dylan Shaw ’24 (trumpet), Tai Guo ’24 (alto sax, flute), Martin Turnbull ’26 (piano), Von Lundin ’27 (guitar), and Ryan Chin ’26 (drum set). 

 

Mr. Carbajal expresses his passion for this event, “The Tartan Revue holds a special place in my heart. I enjoy seeing how all the technical elements and talent come together to truly help each student shine.”

 

The event opened and closed with the company performing “Dance the Night,” featuring choreography by Sammy Kushner ’24. Sammy’s initiative to choreograph for the varied skill levels of the performers and to create special dance steps for the leads, Sophia Kistler ’24 and Els Page ‘24, was impressive. Each of the performers was introduced by Master of Ceremonies Lynden Kim ’25. The performers who took the stage included vocalists Sienna Ganem ’26 singing Andra Day’s “Rise Up” while playing piano, Sienna Gornowicz ’26 singing “Lost Stars” while playing guitar, Alisa Jiang ’27 and Helen Zhang ’27 performing a violin duet, “Por Una Cabeza” and Anna Feng ’27 introducing many to the beautiful tones of the pipa during “Fleet of Time.” 

 

Pianist and vocalist Bryan Wu ’27 performed “Helium” backed by the Tartan Revue Band and vocalists. There was impressive lighting design by Jack Justus ’24. He worked alongside professional sound designer Sia Davarnia, front of house engineer for music superstar Ebi. Carson Good ’27 operated the Sound Board, and Gavin Shams ’26 and Kaede Titus ’24 provided lighting effects.

 

Greta Blau ’25 stunned vocally with her operatic French piece from Romeo et Juliette. Other memorable vocal performances included junior Grace Burke’s “Something in the Orange”, senior Gigi Policicchio’s “Astonishing,” senior Radley Copps’ “My Way,” to open Act 2, junior Tessa Maryott’s “When I Look at You,” senior Alex Kim’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” sophomore Mac Ullem’s “Piano Man” with Els Page, and Sophia Kistler’s “To Be Loved.” Ryan Chin performed a high-energy drum solo to “Mnemonic” which gave the show a hard rock moment followed by the soft rock of senior Rishabh Mallela’s saxophone rendition of “Counting Stars.” 

 

The Steinway grand piano was a centerpiece for the evening. Riley Harrison ’24 thrilled on the piano with Ravel’s Toccata. Richard Feng ’26 performed Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 12 and demonstrated musicianship by accompanying three vocalists. 

 

Mr. Carbajal explains that being a soloist and being an accompanist are different skills. He says, “This was Richard’s first time accompanying. He took the challenge, and everyone was blown away by the results.” Richard says the additional practice hours were worth it. “I learned how to collaborate with others musically. It’s challenging, but I would do it again,” he said.  

 

Dancer Paige Minton ’26, choreographed and performed to “Babydoll” a piece written by Els Page. There were special performances by the Seniors to “A Million Dreams” and string quintet members Sally Chow, Leo Kitaen, Kenji Kothari ‘27, Ava Meeks ’24 and Chris Tang ’27 presented “One Summer’s Day.” Many students played different roles and instruments throughout the evening; many moved from singing back-up vocals to front and center. The ensemble dynamic was on full display. 

 

The technical crew, including Stage Manager Tyler Sant ’28, helped the performance run smoothly with transitions between soloists or groups even as the musical genres also shifted from opera to musical theater, or from rock and roll to crooners, from Spanish to French, from classical to modern. 

 

According to Director of Performing Arts Dan Pacheco, “It was an exceptional evening showcasing the creative and cross discipline collaboration of our student artists!”