Skyline Unplugged made its return last week and for both the 23 performers and the team setting up the event, the bar was high to make this a good show. 

ASB created, organized, and set up the spring event that took place late on a Tuesday night with all students and parents invited to watch and hear the musical talent of Skyline. Rows of seats were lined up in front of the well sized stage that sat just under the backdrop of a large poster that read “Unplugged 2022”.

For almost all of the performers taking the stage that night, preparation for their performance been a priority in their minds, but for Rishi Hazara preparation for his performance was not the only thing he had to worry about. As the Vice President of the Junior ASB class council (and soon to be President of the Senior class council), Hazara had to divide his time with preparing for his performance and for setting up the event.

Organizing Unplugged was a time-consuming ordeal for good reason, with 18 acts there were dozens of people in the crowd supporting their friends or family members. This was also the first Unplugged in two years so ASB had to set the tone for the ensuing shows.

 “Planning was a lot; I think we have been planning for two months” Rishi continued, “reaching out to performers, we had an audition period, and then we drafted up a program and then had a tech rehearsal.”

Hazaras focus for the last two months was on setting up the event so the 18 other acts could display their musical talent. With that, Hazara was left with less time to prepare for his own set. Even less than an hour before he was set to take the stage, Hazara was at the front of the commons at a ticket sales table, checking students’ ASB cards and selling five-dollar tickets to parents.

With the first few acts taking the stage, Hazara was still at the front of the commons working and watching the performances go by, next to his fellow ASB members. It was only when intermission ended and there were just two acts until his own performance, did he disappear from his seat at the ticket table to prepare.

With just six acts left in the night, Hazara took the stage. After months of preparation for not just his own performance but the show in its entirety, he began. The sound of his voice singing “Someone You Loved” along with the piano at his fingertips, bounced off the walls and echoed throughout the central area of Skyline. 

Throughout his entire performance, the crowd was silent, taking in his musical talent all while remaining unaware that he played such a pivotal role in setting up this event. Hazara was introduced just like all of the other performers yet no one in the audience was aware of the effort he had put in both for his performance and for the show as a whole.

After his and the rest of the performances had come to an end, Hazara spoke about how he felt his performance had gone, but he was quick to mention how well the entire show had gone.

“I was happy with [my performance], it had [gone] how I wanted it to go,” Hazara said. “I think [overall] we had a lot more variety this time, we even had an accordion this time which was cool.”

 As the ASB presenters brought the show to a close the crowd took to their feet to show their support for all of the presenters. For more information about the Unplugged event as a whole, click here.