Student performances wowed audience during winter coffee house

Coffee House hosts Zaya Gooding and Rahat Mahbub held the attention of the audience with jokes. Audience participation was another key component of Gooding and Mahbub’s hosting strategy.

By Sofia Graziano and Jordan Miller

Volunteers emerge from the crowd and each grabs a drum. The sound fills the room and kindling a spirit of inclusivity. At this Winter’s coffeehouse, a drum circle started the night, with members from the audience beating bongos onstage.

“I really enjoyed the song selection and the general atmosphere and the student involvement and it started with the banging with drums,” Sergey Ciavoi said.

The house band rocked matching world peace t-shirts, tie-dye socks, and headbands. Hosts Zaya Gooding and Rahat Mahbub invited the crowd up on stage to showcase their own talents throughout the evening.

One of the night’s highlights was Junior Maggie Broaddus’s debut as a lead vocalist. Maggie is a guitarist in the house band. At this coffeehouse, she surprised everyone with a beautiful rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide accompanied by her bandmate Senior Richie Nuzum.

“As well as it being extremely entertaining, it was so astonishing to see how professional all the students were when performing,” Ciavoi continued.

A number of seniors performed, including the Dial’s own Cory Gorczycki. He rapped Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us” and had the crowd singing and clapping along.

The notorious coffeehouse trio, Seniors Isla Parton, Mia Boemio, and Mikhaila Archer were certainly fan favorites. These regular performers once again wowed the crowd with an acapella version of Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up.”