More Past Performances
Portraying the abused child was Zorian Schiffman, an eighth grader at Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst. Portraying his abusive father as a back-stage voice-over was Rob Delgado, a senior at Yorkville High School. The narrator who spoke about the child-rose analogy was Chad Sype, an eighth grader at Lincoln Junior High School in Naperville. Vocalists for the song 'The Rose' were Alex Oechsel, a senior at Benet Academy in Lisle, and her sister, Taylor Oechsel, an eighth grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville. The keyboardist was Jacob Metoyer, a senior at Lake Park High School in Roselle. 11/4/13
(photos by Scott Harrington of Photography by Harrington)
Mimicking MWAH! artist Taylor Oechsel in her reaction to some super good news are troupe members Chad Sype (middle photo) and John Hix. This improvisational segment of a performance by the troupe at Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville, Illinois on May 6, 2013 focused on the value of diversity.
(photo by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
Greendale High School student Zoe Gaspar (center) is serenaded by MWAH! troupe members Landon Ballard (left) and Rob Delgado during a 90-minute presentation on Monday, November 18 in the high school auditorium. Zoe aspires to be a special education teacher and hopes to attend the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater.
(photo by Mary Catanese of NOW Community Newspapers)
MWAH! performers (from left) Jake Smith, Jacob Metoyer, and Rob Delgado serenade Taylor Araujo on March 9, 2013 at the Livingston County Operation Snowflake retreat at Pontiac Junior High School in Pontiac, Illinois. Taylor, a senior at Pontiac Township High School and a Snowflake youth staff leader throughout her high school years, hopes to attend Brigham Young University, majoring in communication.
(photo by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
PORTA High School staff member Rich McMahan attempts to calm MWAH! troupe member Rob Delgado, portraying an abusive boyfriend, after he struck Sarah Saltiel, portraying a victim of Rob's verbal and physical attack. Rob later told the high school and middle school audience in Petersburg, Illinois that in real life he would never resort to any kind of violence in dealing with feelings of jealousy or anger. 4/8/13
(photo by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
MWAH! troupe member Joshua Payne (top photo) speaks at the Quad Cities Youth Conference on January 24, 2013 about a single car crash near Kewanee, Illinois that killed three students from Stark County High School in Toulonin November 2011. Joshua then was joined by Heather Briscolino in discussing another crash near Galesburg, Illinois about three months earlier that killed her son, Quinn Dombrow, and Quinn's best friend. The only remnants that she has from that crash are one of her son's shoes and his cell phone, which she and Joshua are shown holding.
(photos by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
September 10, 2012 – MWAH! Artist Rachel Plasch
found her hero at Marseilles Elementary School in Marseilles, Illinois on
(photos by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
Jemell Moore, an alumnus of the MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe, on November 20, 2013, presented to Cleopatra Cowley on behalf of the troupe a photo poster of Mrs. Cowley's daughter, Hadiya Pendleton.
Hadiya, who was a 15–year–old honor student and majorette at Chicago's King College Prep High School, on January 29, 2013, became the city's 42nd homicide victim in the new year – Chicago's deadliest January in 10 years. An 18–year–old gang member, thinking Hadiya and her friends were members of a rival gang, fatally shot her as she sought shelter from rain under a canopy in a small park less than a mile from President Obama's family home.
The tragic loss of another innocent and gifted Chicago teenager became part of the anti–violence focus by the issues–oriented MWAH! troupe, which also has focused on the mass shooting six weeks earlier at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 27 people died, including 20 first grade students.
While attending a MWAH! presentation at Brooks Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois, on November 4, 2013, Jemell hastily took a photo of the poster pf Hadiya as it was being displayed and later posted the photo on his personal Facebook page. Within hours, Mrs. Cowley saw the Facebook photo, expressed interest in how it was being used, and contacted Jemell, who then arranged with the troupe to have a duplicate poster made for her.
Riley Doyle-Odenbach, an eighth grader at Palos South Middle School in Palos Park, IL, received a special holiday surprise on Dec 3, 2012 when MWAH! cast members Rob Delgado (left), Landon Ballard, and Jacob Metoyer sand to her the song ‘We Belong Together’ RIley planned to attend Stagg High School followed by college to prepare for a career as a physical therapist working with athletes. (photo by Lakeisha Davis-Brooks of V.O.E. Photography of Matteson, IL)
A range of emotions are expressed by three MWAH! performers during their presentation on Nov. 22, 2010 at Smart Intermediate School in Davenport, IA. Expressing their feelings through song and drama are Shealeigh Voitl, Christopher Oechsel, and Christian Honn.
A sequences of images from “The Rose” segment on child abuse from the MWAH! performance on October 9, 2012 at Galesburg HS with Nick Miesuk portraying an abused child, Rob Delgado an abusive parent & Sarah Saltiel, the narrator. (photos by Jeremy Reed of Impact Life Photography)
