PERFORMANCE - NOAH GUERIN and PENNY ST CLAIRE (1 of 2)
As the lights dim down, that week’s video package lights up the screens in the auditorium. There are shots of Penny and Noah working together at the Crashdown and laughing and joking with one another in the employee lounge. The video clearly highlights their excellent camaraderie. From there it flashes to rehearsal, where we see the pair sweaty and disheveled in a dance studio as they’re learning choreography. Noah flops to the floor, jokingly exhausted, while Penny pretends to urge him up for a moment before collapsing next to him. The camera swings around to their choreographer, Kyla Ramirez, who shakes her head. “Amateurs.” Cut to a talking head interview with the pair where they talk about their love for classic musicals and how much fun they’ve had working together this week.
As the video fades out, the auditorium is plunged into blackness. When the lights come up, Noah and Penny are sitting back to back in chairs. The spotlight focuses in on Noah as he begins to sing.
Sitting on a chair, Noah was dressed in a letterman jacket over a white shirt, black jeans, and sneakers with his hair making him look like he was a Greaser from the 1950’s trying to be a jock. Very Danny Zuko. He moved his shoulders to the beat as he began to sing.
“I got chills They're multiplying And I'm losing control”
He began to stand up from his chair as he sang the last two lines.
“Cause the power you're supplying It's electrifying!”
At ‘electrifying’, he rolled his hips and grinned a little then he moved back to his chair as the focus went to Penny.
As the crowd cheers Noah on, the spotlight splits and illuminates Penny as well. She stands for a moment and strikes a pose for the audience, showing off her outfit. She’d gone full Sandy with tight black pants and an off the shoulder black top. Her lips and heels are both the same dangerous shade of red. She winks at the audience before she turns to face Noah.
“You better shape up, cause I need a man. And my heart is set on you.”
The pair abandons their chairs and move closer to one another in the middle.
“You better shape up.” As Penny continues to sing, the pair smoothly transition into their choreography. Penny moved forward as Noah mirrored her moving backward. “You better understand.” They shimmy back and forth in time to the music, before Penny circles around in front of Noah. “To my heart I must be true.”
Their voices meld together in the lead up to the chorus at which point the two launch into some serious dance moves, still belting out the lyrics.
“You're the one that I want. You are the one I want Oh, honey The one that I want You are the one I want Oh, honey The one that I want You are the one I want.”
The pair pressed their backs up against one another and sang out to the audience, the huge smiles on their faces conveying just how much fun they were having.
“Oh, the one I need...oh, yes indeed. Oh!”
With that, the two split off into different sides of the stage. From the wings of the stage, other people appeared: a group of six backup dancers. Eagle eyed viewers might recognize Kyla from the pair’s intro video mixed in among them along with Sally Levinson and Cathy Dollanganger-Sheffield. As Noah sits back down in his chair, Penny circles around him, her hand on his shoulder. Behind them, the dancers head into their synchronized moves.
“If you're filled, with affection You're too shy to convey. Meditate my direction. Feel your way.” Penny swung her hips in Noah’s direction. The microphone picks up a short laugh from her as she breaks for a second.
While Penny is singing to him, Noah is trying to play it all coy and shy while unable to keep the smile off of his face. At ‘feel your way’ he puts the mic up to his mouth and gets out a ‘woo!’ as he reacts to her swinging her hips at him. In seconds he’s back on his feet, pointing over to Penny as he sings his next line.