Iowa Wesleyan University students tell a story at annual variety show “The Story of Tonight”

MT. PLEASANT - The students of Iowa Wesleyan University left it all out on the University Chapel stage Friday night during their annual variety show 'The Story of Tonight.”

In 19 acts, the university's production entertained a local crowd with song covers, dance and improv sketches.

The evening was led by Master of Ceremonies Jeremiah Carter, a sophomore, who was also part of the jazz ensemble and improv skit, 'Family Reunion.”

Carter introduced each act and made playful jabs at faculty and sponsors throughout the show.

'It is at this time in the show that I would like to thank a sponsor. Our first sponsor is Kimzey Funeral Home. Thank you, Mark Kimzey, for being the last man to let us down,” Carter said during a break, to the jeers and laughter of the audience.

'That's my boss, he's really going to get me for that,” Carter added later.

Carter, who helped host the fundraiser last year said he was trained under the show's former emcee, Austin Willis, which naturally transitioned into Carter taking over the role.

'What's fun about it is, I get to make everything funny. I'm really good on the fly which makes it fun for me because if something happens unexpectedly, I can just react to it,” Carter said. The emcee added that he hopes audiences left the theater laughing and wanting to come back the following year for more.

Mason Wills, a senior who performed with the choirs, also made audiences laugh with his rendition of The Champs' song 'Tequila.”

Wills said he has performed in the variety show for three years and had always wanted to do a solo.

'I hadn't done it the last three years and every year I thought, ‘I should have done it.' So this year, I thought and thought and I wanted to do something easy and ‘Tequila' is an easy song - it's one word, no chances I can mess it up. If I'm going to go out, I want to go out with a bang,” he said.

When Wills stepped onto the stage to perform his one-word song, audience members immediately began laughing. Instrumentals played overhead as Wills bopped his head along and made periodic glances at his wristwatch. As he pulled the mic to his face to finally say the word, audience members joined in to scream 'Tequila.”

Laughter and jokes aside, show coordinator Delaney Van Ness said she hoped audiences would not only enjoy themselves but get a sense of the hard work and talent students put into the show. The variety show is the music department's largest fundraiser. During the intermission, a small auction was held with items donated from local businesses.

'Coming to any performance is just this escape from reality and so tonight we're asking the audience to jump into our world and see what we do every day. We just want to bring people into us and see the incredible amount of talent that's here and what they're supporting by coming,” she said.

'Our closing number is ‘I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today.' It's really powerful, the musical pieces kind of go together and have a great message. And hopefully audiences will be glad they were at the show today,” she said.