What do singing, dancing, comedy, puppetry, and Shakespeare have in common? They were all showcased at the 2023 Brain Injury Program’s Talent Show this month. Participants rehearsed for months in preparation to make the exhibition the best it could be.
Brian kicked the show off by channeling the Blues Brothers singing Everybody Needs Somebody to Love which set the stage for an hour of amazing talent. The Women’s Group sang the USA for Africa song “We Are the World,” Susan and Sara performed Ike and Tina Turner’s Proud Mary, Glen “knocked them dead” with his spot-on rendition of Charlie Daniels’ Devil Went Down to Georgia, and Victoria strutted her stuff while performing “My Strongest Suit” from Broadway’s AIDA.
Singing wasn’t the only talent on display, however. Michelle had the audience rolling in the aisles with her comedy stylings, Victoria and Jorelle performed an original dance to the Goo Goo Doll’s song Iris, Carolyn did a puppet show with a set that she created herself, and James and Jasmine performed a portion of the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliette. The show was brought to a close as the ABI Staff danced to the Supremes’ hit, “Stop in the Name of Love,” feather boas in all!
Although awards and prizes were given out after, they seemed secondary to the experience. Each performer has suffered a brain injury and attends the Living Resources Brain Injury program with the goal of establishing meaningful post-injury roles and relationships. The hard work that each person put into their own unique performance and the support they received from their staff was obvious. Each participant has shown tremendous growth in conquering their individual challenges and serves as an inspiration to us all.
Check out the videos on our YouTube Channel, @LRCAlbany!
