Beneath the spotlight and gracing the stage of the Performing Arts Center, performers with guitars, microphones, and serenades competed for the top prizes at United Choir of Brea’s annual talent show, Brea’s Got Talent (BGT), on Nov. 21.
The event showcases the performing arts talents of the BOHS student body. Although auditions are open to various types of talent — past shows featured dancers and musicians — nine of the ten acts this year featured vocalists.
Choir director Molly Gooch appreciated the “incredible” performance from the students, and hopes to “start attracting a large variety of talents to showcase in the competition.”
After an hour-and-a-half of ballads with instrumental accompaniments, duo Indy Bomgaars (’27) and Gavin McCarthy (’25), and solo acts Megan Smylie (’26) and Simone Ligason-Tiquia (’26), were awarded first, second, and third places, respectively.
Bomgaars, awarded “Best Vocalist” in 2023’s BGT, returned again as a vocalist, this time partnered with McCarthy.
The duo won first place with The Great Gatsby musical’s “My Green Light,” a piece they’ve been working on since last April. “It [was] a team effort,” Bomgaars said of her partnership with McCarthy.
Compared to last year, Bomgaars’ experience was “less scary” because she was on-stage with “someone [she] could rely on.”
Smylie, who won second place with her performance of Little Mix’s “Secret Love,” was competing for the third time. After three years, she said it was “habit” to audition again, but she still wanted to work hard on her piece. “I planned [the performance] a few weeks before and practiced it a bunch,” Smylie said.
Ligason-Tiquia, winner of last year’s “Best in Other” category for her performance of Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu,” returned to the stage with another piano piece — Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Little Red Riding Hood” — to secure her third place award.
After years of refining her piano skills, the etude originated from her eighth grade practice sessions. Though she stopped playing for a year, Ligason-Tiquia “relearned it for the competition,” she said. “It was pretty hard, but it was fun to be on stage.”
Charleigh Wintrich (’25), a first-time performer, found the opportunity to compete in BGT as a way to express her artistic passion. “I never really get the chance to play guitar for others, so this was a way for me to express myself,” Wintrich said. After playing guitar for four years, her smooth cover of “Astronomy” by Conan Gray elicited lively applause from the audience.
In wake of the melodic showcase, Gooch looks forward to hosting the competition for another year. She appreciated the time performers put into preparing and performing their musical talents. “We had a very successful Brea’s Got Talent,” she said.
