The Taste of victory

Being able to draw someone into a hug through song is perhaps the greatest art. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. said that if one needs proof of the existence of God, they need not look further than music.

There are levels of music from recorder babble in first grade - to   tuba practice in elementary school -  to ditties sung on a comedian’s stage - to melodies that lift you off the ground as if you've been called to heaven's promise.

This year’s Taste of Talent winner, Madolyn Williams, fits into that latter category. This Franklin High School senior is a performer, a songstress of the highest caliber despite her young age. She becomes the words she is singing and if you allow yourself...you join with her soaring above the clouds.​

Her mother Leigh-Anne Williams  said  "She always likes to know the story behind the song/dance/art, etc. "Kind of like being an empath…. She tries to feel what the artist was feeling when they composed/created/choreographed. So it's not that she taps into a moment in her life, but rather the story behind the work of art and the person behind it."

Today she went for the jugular with the Adele song “Easy on Me” before just playing with us all with “Show off,” a fun tongue-in-cheek foray about being tired of being in the spotlight - but not enough to not have an encore.

Then after winning this year’s championship she had a true encore with perhaps her most powerful performance of the entire Taste of Talent summer with “Winner takes all,” by Abba

“A lot of the songs I didn’t know and I wanted to challenge myself,” she said. “I just listened to (the songs) over and over again to try to get comfortable singing them myself.”

Williams really started singing in junior high just a few years back where her teacher Sarah Gilbert heard something special in her voice. She has also performed in school musicals and rocked the stage at Franklin High School during their many music performances.

Taste is just the latest time she has brought the audience into her soul and along for the ride

"I’m incredibly proud of her. She didn’t let anyone else influence the songs she chose and she made sure that she didn’t choose anything “safe” or “easy”… I’d give her suggestions and she would say “I need something that will challenge me,” said her mon Leigh-Anne Williams. "She learned lyrics to songs that she didn’t already know. And before each performance evening she would head out to the paths in our woods with her headphones and belt away… you could hear her voice from our 30 acres of woods clear up to the house. She puts her all into every performance whether it be singing, dancing, or music theater."

Not to diminish the entertainment or community contribution of the other ten performers who gave of themselves, some for the very first time performing in front of crowd.  Every single one of them has guts must of us do not process. Taste of Talent is a remarkable thing.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this community endeavor is that, at the end an individual gets added to a collective - a Taste of Talent family. All have entertained hundreds of folks each week looking for a reason to get out of the house and experience something original.

And every summer Taste of Talent gives this community just that, a chance to see talented neighbors and others who occasionally come from afar have the guts to get up and perform in front of a live a audience.

And though Taste is over,  the talent of the area is still strong and active with many more shows coming.

Rabbit Hole It is a brilliant look into life we shy away from because it is too difficult to imagine. This play will make you laugh, but then ugly cry. These are top notch performances coming at you in the little theater.

This Off-Barrow production opens this week in its five show run in the Barrow-Civic Little Theatre. Shows are; 7:30 p.m. on August 8, 15 and 16; and 2 p.m. on August 10 and 17. (Note: there is no show on August 9.) Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at barrowtheatre.org or by calling the box office at 814-437-3440.

An additional 2 p.m. Saturday show has been added on August 30 at the Sawmill. There will be no show on Sunday August 31.