Happy Valley’s Got Talent is not your average talent show. Each spring, about 40 of the best and brightest singers, dancers, and other performers from Centre County audition for one of 12 spots in the competition at the State Theatre. In the process, the event raises money for Tides, a program that offers support to families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one.
Tides coordinator Holly Torbic says the idea for the event was inspired during a conference in 2011. The Tides staff had learned about a similar event that happened in the Pittsburgh area. Tides had been searching for a fundraiser to keep the organization running after a grant expired, so the timing was perfect, she says.
“Greene County did a similar fundraiser … the first year they had 40 people audition, the second year they had 200,” she says. “We know our funding would be ending in 2011, and we needed funding to be self-sustaining. It was a risk, but we decided just to jump on it.”
The Tides program staff recruited Jerry Sawyer to coordinate the event. He had just retired from Penn State and had experience with production. Sawyer, who had not heard of Tides before becoming involved with Happy Valley’s Got Talent, says he was excited to come on board, but apprehensive about the tight timeline.
“I thought, ‘Wow this is a great thing, it would be a great show. You want to do this next year, right?’ ” he says. “They wanted to do it in March, and it was January at the time, but we came together and pulled it off.”
This year’s show is April 2 at the State Theatre. Auditions were held February 27-28.
Contestants had been split into three age brackets — “Future Fame” for ages 10 to 15 (it had previously been for ages 12 to 15 but was expanded to accommodate younger children), “Rising Stars” for ages 16 to 20, and “Prime Time” for ages 21 and older. Contestants are judged on several factors, including audience appeal, performance quality, and showmanship. Previous judges include Sue Paterno, State College mayor Elizabeth Goreham, and former Blue Band director Richard Bundy.
Sawyer says the only limits on performances are that they cannot involve too much equipment and songs need to be family-friendly. Acts are mostly singers, but also have included classical musicians, Penn State student groups, and even a hula hoop performer.
“We are open to just about anything as long as the performers can carry their instruments on and off stage without much setup sound-wise,” he says. “We keep trying to condense the show to prevent it from running too long.”
Allison Carr-Chellman attended the show last year with her children, who became inspired to audition themselves this year. Aila, 12, and 13-year-old twins, Jules and Asher, will be performing a singing and dancing routine set to an ABBA song.
“Last year, we went to see what it was like and what people did,” Carr-Chellman says. “They loved it, and as soon as we got in the car they were excited about doing it this year.”
She says her family is excited for the opportunity to perform and about supporting Tides and its mission.
“We have been fans of the Tides program for quite a long time,” she says. “[The talent show] is fun for us, but we recognize that it supports a good cause, as well.”
The Carr-Chellman siblings were selected as finalists in the Future Fame bracket.
Each of the 12 finalists receives a cash prize, and the winner in each category receives time in a recording studio. Sawyer says contestants can audition more than one year, but winners are not permitted to audition again.
The judges’ votes are kept secret from Sawyer and other organizers to protect the integrity of the competition. Emcees Fred Metzger and Jerry Valeri ensure the show runs smoothly all evening.
Torbic says the caliber of talent in the area leads to a very professional production.
“This is not just a high school production type of thing,” she says. “Every year you think there’s no way they can top it — but every year they do!”
One of those acts was Carrie Brandon, who was a finalist in last year’s competition. She received a musical theater degree from Penn State and also performed as a singer-songwriter at Webster’s in State College and other venues in the area. She performed an original song on her guitar and appreciated the musical diversity in the program.
“What was really cool is that all the acts were so different and there was such a wide range of talent,” she says.
After graduating from Penn State in May, she moved to New York City and now performs in musical theater productions and in her own shows at clubs around the city. Her debut EP, In the Fall, was released in February 2015.
Ashley Moore was a contestant in 2014 and says that, while the talent level is high, the atmosphere among contestants is friendly and welcoming.
“It seems as though everyone was behind each other. There was no cutthroat feeling from other performers,” she says. “If anyone needed advice, everyone was very helpful.”
Moore now lives in Portland, Oregon, but was active in the State College theater scene in 2014 while her husband pursued his PhD at Penn State. She came in second place at the talent show, and the exposure led her to compete in State College Idol and Altoona’s Got Talent.
She also knows what an organization such as Tides can mean to a family from when she lost her brother as a teenager.
“I wish I had a program like Tides when I was dealing with the loss of my brother,” she says. “I wanted to participate in the competition, but when I found out who was behind it, it made it even more important.”
Between acts at Happy Valley’s Got Talent, Tides plays a slideshow of photos of loved ones lost by participants in the program. Torbic says this is a good way to introduce the audience to the organization while maintaining the privacy of participants.
“The Tides program is very confidential. We would never take pictures — we want to respect privacy,” she says. “The slideshow gives the audience an insight into Tides because it’s hard to talk about.”
Happy Valley’s Got Talent is the main fundraiser for Tides and helps support its efforts during the year. Due in part to the success of the event, Tides executive director Suzanne Thompson says Tides has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. The program now serves 63 families from across Centre County.
She adds that the organization hopes to raise $50,000 with this year’s competition. Last year’s event fell short of that, so they decided to keep the goal the same for 2016.
Funding primarily comes from sponsors and donations for raffles and a live auction held during the show. Previous raffle items included a trip to New York City to see a Broadway show and an iPad mini.
“Hundreds of volunteers and businesses donate their time, talent, and resources to make this event possible,” Thompson says. “We couldn’t do it without them.
“We now have more families than ever in the program, which increases the cost of everything. This event is one of the main things that is keeping our program going.”
