At October’s talent show, a wide range of talents and skill levels will be welcomed. For example, this performance from a previous show demonstrated proper use of the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. Photos and videos courtesy of Ray Orfiano.
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There’s a lot of negativity going around these days, and good reasons for it, says Ray Orfiano.
Homelessness, drug overdoses, the perennial housing affordability crisis, politics in general — it’s all quite depressing, he told me. He knows many people who feel that way. In recent months, the stressors escalated. The Tenderloin’s nonprofit sector was under threat as officials took aim at its funding to balance City Hall’s budget, endangering the well-being of those who sought social services there. At the 11th hour, most service providers were spared. But the whole ordeal was still exhausting, said Orfiano, who was involved in advocacy to prevent the cuts.
In the face of all that darkness, it’s time for some fun.
That’s why Orfiano and Kevin Liu, outreach coordinators at the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Center, are bringing the Creative Expressions Talent Show to the Tenderloin. Orfiano will host the show with community activist Lisa Whitney. Mark your calendars: The event is scheduled for Oct. 15, in the second-floor auditorium of the Kelly Cullen Community building at 220 Golden Gate Ave. Doors will open by 5 p.m., possibly sooner, and the show will start by 5:30 p.m.
And Orfiano is on the hunt for performers to showcase their talents. Please consider becoming part of the event and joining rehearsals! If you know someone who might be interested, send them this story. Participants can hail from anywhere in the city.
The first opportunity to rehearse is today, Aug. 18, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Kelly Cullen Community building’s auditorium. You can demonstrate your talent, or just talk about it to see whether you’d want to perform. Rehearsals will also happen Aug. 20 and 25, as well as on Sept. 8 and on another day (TBD) closer to the show, at the same location and time of day.
If you’d like to rehearse this week or next, contact Orfiano first. If you just show up unannounced, he might not be able to accommodate you. His contact info:
Maybe you think you don’t have a talent? Orfiano would probably disagree.
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“There’s always something that someone could do,” he said. “And if they couldn’t be in the show, on the stage, there’s always a place for them, whether it’s helping with the curtain or getting the audience pumped up and conversating with them, serving the food.” He added that there will be non-alcoholic beverages too, and he hopes to make the space kid-friendly.
The duo has put on this kind of event before. Then, as now, it was sponsored and managed by the Supportive Housing Overdose Prevention Network (SHOPN), a group within the housing provider Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, which is supporting the show. Orfiano volunteers for SHOPN as a resident leader and coordinator, and works alongside Liu, a TNDC employee. Their group helps tenants with problems in their buildings, and educates about overdoses and helps prevent them, Orfiano said.
Lisa Whitney and Ray Orfiano will co-host this October’s talent show.
The previous talent shows boasted a wide variety of performances, including some you might not expect. In one case, a team demonstrated how to use or administer the drug Narcan, also known by its generic name naloxone, which can reverse opioid overdoses and save lives.
People at all skill levels are welcomed, from the aspiring to the expert. That includes poets, spoken-word performers, rappers, comedians, singers, dancers, drag artists, instrumentalists, and many others.
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Orfiano wants to give the community’s hidden gems a rare opportunity to shine on stage. Many people might feel stuck inside their cramped apartments, stifled or listless, or they might just lack nearby outlets for self-expression. “There’s open mics and stuff. But not enough,” he said.
At a prior show, one of those hidden gems was his neighbor.
“There was a 70-year-old singer on my floor,” Orfiano said.
At the time, the singer, Milton, was slated to come on about halfway through the show. But he ran late, so he had to perform last. Then he strode out on stage, and brought down the house.
“It went great, there were people crying. It was really touching. He sang an old Dinah Washington song, ‘What a Difference a Day Makes,’” Orfiano said.
Milton finishes out his song, and the crowd applauds.
Milton will return to the stage for October’s show. “He’s been asking about it since the last one,” Orfiano said.
Another gem? Orfiano himself.
“A lot of people didn’t know that I played the piano and guitar,” he said, recalling his own performance. “When I was done, they were clapping, and saying, ‘What the heck? Where did that come from?’”
When he was young, taking piano lessons, he showed a natural talent for playing by ear, rather than learning pieces by reading sheet music.
One day, as he played, his teacher realized he’d stopped turning the page on the sheet music. Was he just pretending to be reading the song?
“She slammed her hands on the piano,” Orfiano recounted to me. “She said, ‘You can’t read [music], right?’ I said, ‘I can.’ ‘Then read,’ she said.” He tried, and the song tumbled out of him, all choppy. But when she played for him first, he could play it back to her with ease. He played consistently until college, and less often after that. “I need to take it out of my closet,” he said, referring to his keyboard.
Ray Orfiano plays for an audience that did not see this coming.
Orfiano is uncertain about playing at October’s show. He might do it if there aren’t enough other performers.
“I’d rather showcase other talent,” he said. “Other people getting their spotlight, it kinda fulfills you.”
The Tenderloin Voice is a media sponsor for this event, meaning that our branding will appear on promotional materials and that we are writing about it here, publishing related event listings in our community calendar, and helping distribute promotional flyers in the neighborhood. We have not provided funding.
I'm a journalist who has reported for years on San Francisco topics like homelessness, housing, and governance. I co-founded News Relay Network, publisher of the Tenderloin Voice, where I write and edit. Reach me at noah@tlvoice.org.
