Saturday January 5, members of Kingsway’s senior class took the stage and performed the first ever Kingsway Live.

The show featured Justin Steward (Mr. January) escorted by Madeleine Stephens, Bernard Roddy (February) escorted by Jayne Hirst, Saipradosh Ramrajesh (March) escorted by Sydney Maroney, Aneas McGruder (April) escorted by Betul Dogru, Michael Kowal (May) escorted by Nina Vignola, Jacob Brady(June) escorted by Julia Everham, Antonio Bene (July) escorted by Emily O’Rourke, Peter Bernardino (August)escorted by Taylor Fearon, Ryan Patel (September)escorted by Samantha Federico, Alec Emmi (October)escorted by Sydney Coles, Andre Butler (November) escorted by Chloe Britton, and Anthony Brasco (December) escorted by Holly Chambers.

Hosted by Jacqueline Repp and Morgan Spinner, the show started off with the boy’s homemade video.  Following the James Bond theme, the students’ mission was to “save Kingsway Live”.

Following the introduction video, the group danced away to a variety of different popular songs choreographed by Hailey Ferry and her assistant Madeline Collins. Not only did Hailey Ferry teach the group how to dance, she performed an amazing rendition of Adele’s song “SkyFall”  featured in  the James Bond movie.

Dressed like their months, the boys then used a variety of lights, tutus, and costume to show off their months. The night did not end there; the next event was the lip sync battle. Featuring history teacher Kristian Ward, Aneas McGruder and Andre Butler performed Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles.” Later that night, the pair won “Best Lip Sync” for this performance. McGruder said he just “really wanted to win this event.” He was surprised that they were able to convince Ward to do it with them and that “Mr. Ward was really good without practicing it with them.”

After a ten minute intermission, the group showed off their best struts and introduced their escorts. Featuring the song of their choice, the pairs did their own creative handshake.

Next was the most interesting part of the night, the formal question. The contestants picked a question at random and  answered the same question as every other person. This question was, “What advice would you give a freshman?” Although some of the contestants decided to give a comedic answer, others were heartfelt and gave sincere advice to the freshman.

After the escort dance came the moment that everyone was waiting for, the results. The categories were, People’s Choice, Best Lip Sync Battle, Best Strut, First Runner Up and of course King of Kingsway.  Guidance Administrative Assistant Kim Dormann, History Teacher Drew Laverty, Student Assistance Counselor Fallon Milligan, Guidance Administrative Assistant Christine Minot,  Math Teacher Kathleen Miles,  English Teacher Chris Tirri, and Vice Principal James Zurzolo judged all the categories and tabulated their results during  another  ten-minute intermission.

At this time, the audience used the remaining piece of their ticket to vote for who they thought should win the People’s Choice. This title went to Bernard Roddy. Best Lip Sync Battle title went to Andre Butler and Aneas McGruder and then  Mr. December, Anthony Brasco won Best Strut.

Finally, the last categories that were left to announce were first runner up and the King of Kingsway. Taking the spot of first runner-up was Mr. October Alec Emmi. Finally, the audience was on the edge of their seat waiting to hear who was the new King of Kingsway! The first annual Kingsway Live’s King of Kingsway was, Mr. February, Bernie Roddy.

Roddy felt that he won both awards mostly because of his speech. In the speech he said “My advice to freshmen would be that they should not be afraid to be themselves. When they get that butterfly feeling in their stomachs, they should not be afraid to embrace it because the next moment will be a moment that they will remember the rest of their lives. In short, “Don’t be afraid to embrace the butterflies.”

Thanks to the efforts of all involved and advisers Apryl Palazzo and Mairin Schramm, the event raised $2,385 and the funds will be donated to the New Jersey Association of Student Councils State Charity, One Simple Wish.

“We are extremely proud of the hard work of both the students who participated in the show and that of those who helped us prepare behind the scenes in the months leading up to Kingsway Live.  We were so happy with how everything turned out- it is a testament to the great amount of effort all the students put forth in order to make the show a success” said Palazzo and Shramm.