Tigers’ Roar is an Albert Lea High School tradition that dates back more than eight decades. Last week, ALHS choral teacher Diane Heaney directed another year of the production with shows taking place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The show was a medley of ALHS’s top talent and featured many different singers and instrumentalists. 

Heaney spent months preparing for the performances. Auditions took place in early February, and the performers spent the month rehearsing and refining their acts for the show. Heaney and the emcees even got together over Spring Break to plan their skits. Heaney said that the show is different every year because it is a combination of the unique acts that the students bring together. 

“It’s whatever [the students] come up with,” she said. “It’s a big pot of soup, and you throw it all in.” 

Many of this year’s acts involve singing. Senior Katie Holt was featured in several vocal acts, including a solo, a duet, and the show choir. She was also in the jazz band, who performed prior to the show. Holt has been involved in Tigers’ Roar since eighth grade. She started out working in the tech booth but found her way to the stage last year. She said her solo act as a junior was a “necessary push” for herself as a musician and person. 

“It was obviously scary being the first time that I ever sang by myself on the stage, [but] it was very fun,” she said. 

This year, she was excited to share the performance opportunity with her friends and to “show off [their] skills.”

“[I had] a lot of fun being surrounded by some really good people and friends that are also passionate about what we do,” she said. 

Junior Angel Hernandez was a master of ceremony and also participated in three additional acts. He was also a performer in last year’s show but, prior to this year’s show, had never emceed before. Being on stage and performing was something that scared him as a middle schooler, so each year, he has pushed himself to get more involved and face his fears. Prior to the show, he said that he was looking forward to seeing the crowd’s reaction to the acts and skits. 

“It always gets me happy at the end of the show when they all come up to us and are congratulating us,” he said. “It makes me happy to see that they enjoyed the show.” 

The three performances went off without a hitch last week for an auditorium full of spectators supporting their family members, classmates and peers. Now, with the completion of Tigers’ Roar, ALHS has the spring musical, “A Year with Frog and Toad,” to look forward to in May.