Last Friday, on the first night of Ebony, during the song “Bitch I’m Madonna,” the crowd gasped as the stage fell into darkness. Almost two hundred students spent the last six weeks preparing for the Ebony show and hundreds were in the audience opening night as the lights went out and Sayles Hill went silent; then the first cell phone light popped on. Despite the initial desire to run off stage, Ebony Director Sami Saltzman ‘16 continued dancing with the rest of her group as hundreds of cell phone lights shined onto the stage. It’s unclear why the lights failed, but Saltzman said that “there was so much love and support in the room that it was impossible to be upset about the technical failure.”

Despite the technical difficulties, the show finished its remaining two songs with a little help from the audience and their cell phones. Saltzman sums up the Ebony Directors’ feelings when she says, “I think the lights going out was such a magical moment. It was the sweetest gesture–a wonderful and magical reminder of how special the Carleton community is.”