“For the first time ever in Harrison County: Dancing with the Stars!” sounded in the Harrison Central Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 24, to kick off the theater fundraiser.
The doors opened for VIP ticket holders at 5:30 p.m., giving them access to the VIP balcony and early seating. By 6:15 p.m. the doors were open to all and every seat was filled by 7 p.m. when the show started.
Emcee Drake Watson, a Harrison Central alumni, introduced the dancers. There were nine couples, each with a unique performance. There were four judges giving each performance a score, and the audience cast their votes for the Mirrorball Trophy via a QR code. The People’s Choice Award was voted on separately, with audience members being able to buy as many votes as they wanted.
Lexi and Dustin Corder performed first, receiving a judge’s score of 35 out of 40. Callie Anderson and Clint Barr followed, receiving a score of 27 out of 40. Amanda DeLuca and Chace Smith performed third, receiving a score of 37 out of 40.
After a brief intermission, where the audience could visit the concession stand, buy raffle tickets, and vote for the People’s Choice, Emily Fouts and Greg Tullis performed, receiving a score of 34. They were followed by Sicily Wade and Jeremy Yeager, who scored 33. Bailie Ray and Aimee Clay performed next, scoring a 38.
Another intermission followed, then Taylor Cope and Deb Kenny performed, scoring a 34. Sophie Cunningham and Dirk Harkins followed them, receiving a score of 39. And the final performance was Lexi Cunningham and Brandon Ludwig, who scored a 37.
After one last intermission, the award ceremony began. First was the 50/50 drawing, followed by a “Soul Train,” where audience members dressed in their 70’s costumes could participate in a dance with the performers. Four VIP tickets for next year’s performance were also auctioned off.
The People’s Choice award, which raised around $12,000, went to Callie Anderson and Clint Barr. The Mirrorball Trophy went to Sophie Cunningham and Dirk Harkins.
“I’m so excited because I actually didn’t want to do this at first, because I was so nervous. So now I’m so happy that I did!” Sophie Cunningham said.
“It’s awesome, you know.” Harkins said. “We put a lot of hard work in. Sophie, the first couple weeks, pretty much picked me up off the floor all week long, telling me “You’ll be alright Dirk, you’ll be alright.” Been pretty sore, but it’s so awesome, I’ve just been overwhelmed with it, really. It’s a great thing we’re doing for the kids and raising money. Most important is raising all that money. But it’s just awesome to be with Sophie, we had so much fun.”
The proceeds from the People’s Choice Award, combined with the ticket sales, totaled around $25,000.
“We’ve kind of surpassed our goal, we are blown away at the generosity of the community.” Anisa Rocchi, head of production, said. “It’s mind-blowing what people are giving, not just of their time and their effort and their energy, but out of their pockets. Our hearts are just exploding, we can’t believe this. But again, it’s not going to be an abundance of just “oh, it’s just going to sit there and we’re not going to utilize this money,” productions take money, and so we’re excited at least to have some breathing room, so that we know we’re going into a production being able to do it well.
“The theater program has grown over the last couple of years, and it’s been amazing to watch happen, because we have some talented kids here, we have an amazing facility, we have a beautiful performing arts center. And so to be able to match those two things up, this amazing facility, and then the kids being able to utilize it to their absolute best, that takes money, shows take money. And so, being able to build up that account where we can give these kids what they need to run a production, that’s why we’re doing this,” Rocchi explained. “I would love everybody to come back to see ‘Mama Mia’ on March 15, 16, and 17. And that’s what these kids have been working hard on preparing for.”
The planning for the event began in November of 2023, when Rocchi approached Amanda DeLuca of Amanda’s Dance Academy with the idea. They got the directors and parents club on board, and began preparation.
“It’s just one of those times when everything came together, as far as the timing, as far as the people that are involved, as far as cooperation, just every piece of this, there’s so many moving parts, and they’ve all clicked, they’ve all worked well together, everybody is having the time of their lives,” Rocchi said. “With that being said, it was a huge undertaking, it was the biggest project I’ve ever bitten off, we’ve ever bitten off. But it’s worth it, because to watch these people form friendships and connections and relationships, some of them had never even met before, that’s been really cool. That’s the piece of this that’s hitting me emotionally, to watch that happen, because everyone’s going to be so sad when this is over.”
After the show, the performers came out to interact with the audience and take pictures.
“This is just a sneak peek for what we have for you next year,” Ashley Doren, a theater program director, said. “This is just the beginning, I don’t think this is going away.”
