By Brendan Cross
For The Diamondback
The Kreativity Diversity Troupe held its final open mic night of the semester at the Cafritz Foundation Theatre in The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Friday.
The event included performances from members and non-members of the Kreativity group. Students showed off their talents such as singing, reading poetry, performing stand-up comedy and more.
Friday night was Kailee Goldberg’s final open mic night. She’s a senior theatre major and the co-artistic director of the troupe.
“This club has been a part of my college experience since the third week of school ever for me, so I’ve met a lot of great people,” Goldberg said. “I’ve done a lot of really cool things, created a lot of things in my time here that I didn’t think I’d be able to. It’s a really good support system … it’s definitely bittersweet.”
[Renowned Spanish pianist Daniel del Pino performs at the Clarice]
Part of Kreativity’s mission is to provide opportunities for students to perform and show their talents when they may not have a chance to otherwise because they are not in a performance major.
“I do creative things every single day as part of my degree. But people who are in [computer science] don’t get to do that,” Goldberg said. “You can find the most super talented people in comp-sci or any other department, and you wouldn’t know about them unless they do events like these.”
Amelia Nur, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, uses Kreativity as a platform to show off her stand-up comedy whereas she otherwise may not have the chance because her major is not performance-related.
“The thing I love about these open mics specifically is that it’s everything. It’s not just music. It’s not just stand-up. It’s everything in between and even though there’s not that many stand-up comedians, I feel totally comfortable and at home here,” Nur said.
Alaina Jenkins, who goes by AJ, is a sophomore theatre major and was one of the MCs of the show.
[Mae Martin’s ‘Sap’ is heartfelt and hilarious]
“This is one of the biggest turnouts we’ve had from the last few open mics and it’s more than just theater majors,” they said. “I was very, very happy to see everyone but I was also really nervous. This is our biggest crowd, but it was amazing to see people engaging … It truly showed how much UMD can be a community.”
Drew Okoye, a freshman psychology and theatre major, was the other MC of the event and gave a singing performance as well.
Okoye said Kreativity provides a community he can belong to.
“We have a lot of opportunities to say how we’re feeling. We go in a circle, we talk about our day. Everything is welcome,” Okoye said. “Just by being in it, you just have friends, people like you just for being in it and being willing to share that … their arms are just so open that I just melted into the group and became comfortable quickly.”
