First Posted: 4/9/2015
LAFLIN — The St. Maria Goretti Talent Show is a special occasion, but this year the event is reaching a milestone.
Sunday, April 19 will mark the 20th time the Laflin-based parish has entertained the community with its annual talent showcase, and it all began with the suggestion of St. Maria Goretti’s former priest, Fr. Jim Paisley.
Talent show director Peggy Sosnak, however, said this is not a typical talent show.
“It’s lip sync and sometimes men dress as women and women dress like men — it’s not straight talent (acts) in that regard,” said Sosnak. “When (Paisley) started the show — he is talented — he would sing and the rest of us would do the lip syncing and so forth.”
According to parishioner Dorothy Shea Yazurlo, the reason for the talent show was to bring the church community together for a fun night.
“The whole idea behind the show from Fr. Paisley’s perspective, and everybody’s since, is this is a get-together for the parish,” said Yazurlo. “There are no charges, we give out door prizes, we have refreshments, and the idea is to get the parish together. It’s a fun time and it’s a fun show.”
Paisley left St. Maria Goretti 11 years ago after being transferred to St. Therese’s Parish in Shavertown.
Much of the talent on display is homegrown in Laflin, but some out of town acts will perform at the 20th annual talent show, including the Dallas Junior High Cheerleaders and Unaccounted Four, a barbershop quartet.
Sosnak said the fun part about the 20th show is that parishioners who performed when they were kids will have their own kids performing, too.
Sosnak said nowadays talent acts range from instrument playing, live singing, lip syncing, comedy acts and other forms of entertainment.
Assistant talent show director Frank Magdalinski said live singing and lip syncing are usually the two acts people will see the most, but some surprises will follow.
“You may have some instrumental coming in and then there are little acts thrown in where you would lip sync a song or act it out,” said Magdalinski. “Peggy’s going to be Little Red Riding Hood and I have my little grandson being the wolf with the skit going to grandma’s place. We have the whole thing choreographed where we have our little things going within the song.”
The talent show organizers made it clear that the show is not a contest, meaning no prizes are awarded in the end, just thunderous applause.
Over the years each talent show has had certain themes ranging from “Hollywood” to “Out at Sea.” For the last five years the talent show went with an “American Idol” theme.
Sosnak, Yazurlo and Magdalinski have all served as judges, playfully critiquing the talent show performers.
“We would have an act come up and perform, whether it would be singing live or lip syncing, and we would comment on it,” said Magdalinski. “We would have little fights going on amongst ourselves and even with the talent we would say, ‘Don’t quit your day job.’”
The talent show itself, Sosnak said, involves parishioners and resident volunteers who help with maintenance, stage crew and sound to help keep the show going. Sosnak, Yazurlo and Magdalinski are often in charge of organizing the event every year.
“What we’ll do is the three of us will come in and we’ll get an agenda in regard to what our theme is going to be, how many acts, what acts are we going to go through in regard to musicals, comedy and et cetera,” said Magdalinski. “Peggy, I think from year to year she said she doesn’t do a lot, but I think after our final production on Sundays I believe she stays awake that night dreaming of themes for next year.”
A staple in the Laflin Borough for 20 years now, Sosnak said the real reason the annual talent show has been going for so long is because the community members want it.
“We do get an audience,” said Sosnak. “People initially came because of Fr. Paisley’s talent and people came, I believe, because of him. When he was transferred I really kept it for the morale of the church and parish family; we just kept it going. People would ask, ‘Are you going to do it next year?’”
Paisley will make a return for the 20th talent show with a surprise or two up his sleeves. Sosnak said there will also be other surprises at the event as well.
Doors will open 6 p.m. with no charge and there will be complimentary refreshments and snacks as well.
