Calling all kids: Bill Riley Talent Show takes stage at Charles Theater

By Kate Hayden | khayden@charlescitypress.com

For some kids lining up inside the Charles Theater on Sunday, the holiday weekend meant more than the night’s fireworks or Monday’s parade.

Tighten the dance shoes, practice last-minute warmups, adjust a costume strap or two: it was go time at the Bill Riley Talent Show.

Thirteen Sprouts and 11 Seniors showed off their mojo in front of a packed audience, displaying talents from acro-dance to showtunes in the musically-focused performances.

The local Charles City Hy-Vee awarded a total of $600 to top contest winners in both the Sprouts and Seniors categories.

Top Sprout talents of the day were tapping trio Cloey Horns, Chyann Bullerman, and Joe Kammerer of Cresco, who danced to “Swinging in Time”; second place to Megan Wheelock of Waterloo for her vocal solo “Buttons and Bows”; and third place to Trinity Brincks of Fredericksburg for her tap dance solo “Black Betty”. Brooklyn Miller of Gowrie became a state qualifier for Bill Riley with her solo dance “Stray Cat Strut”.

Among the seniors, Joel Ochoa of Cedar Falls received first place for his musical theater solo “What Do I Need with Love”; second place went to Alexis Ruroden of West Union for her acro-dance “Human”; and third place went to Elise Obermire of Mason City for her vocal solo “I’m the Greatest Star”.

“It’s exciting,” Kammerer, 10, said after the awards.

Although his dance teammates Horns, 10, and Bullerman, 9, have each performed four times before on the Riley stage, it was Kammerer’s first time at the annual competition.

“Never give up on yourself, never run away from the stage. No matter what, just be happy that you tried your best,” he said.

It’s Ochoa’s second time performing on the Riley stage as a senior. Ochoa, 16, has been doing musical theater since he was a kid, he said after awards.

“I haven’t done any high school shows, but I just finished ‘Hello Dolly!’ the musical, over in Cedar Falls. I was Barnaby Tucker,” Ochoa said.  “‘Just sing your heart out’, is what I love to think. Go out there and leave everything on the stage, don’t be afraid of a cracked note or anything.”

To purchase your favorite photos, visit the 2016 Bill Riley Talent Show album on Photo Rewind.

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