Got talent? Join the show at St. John Paul II Parish

BY BILL DOYLE
CFP CORRESPONDENT
 
If you can sing or dance, Father Kenneth R. Cardinale, pastor at St. John Paul II Parish in Southbridge, would like to hear from you.
Even if you aren’t much of a singer or dancer, Father Cardinale would like you to contact him. If you can play a musical instrument, tell jokes, perform handstands, cartwheels or bird calls, jump rope, dribble a basketball or even if you can blow a really big bubble with chewing gum, he would like to hear from you.
St. John Paul II Parish is looking for volunteers to perform in a talent show at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the La Salle Reception Center at 444 Main St. in Southbridge, next door to Notre Dame Church. The parish also holds Masses at St. Mary Church at 247 Hamilton St. Anyone of any age or ability is welcome.
The show is called, “Sending All Our Love,” and it will benefit , “Fraternite des Jeunes” a boys' home in Les Cayes, Haiti, run by the Oblate Fathers.
St. John Paul II has supported the boys’ home for nearly 30 years and has pledged to donate $20,000 this year.  
 
If not for the parish’s financial support, Father Cardinale believes the home would close.
 
The parish conducts other fundraisers for the home, including car washes, Friday fish fries during Lent and a Knights of Columbus dinner, but when interest waned in the parish’s Valentine’s Day dance, Father Cardinale decided to replace it with a talent show.
 
“There’s certainly enough talent,” he said. “It’s just that people have to get over being shy about it.”
The talent show needs more people to volunteer to appear on stage, but Father Cardinale plans to do his part and sing with Matt Hart and Rob Honahan. Hart is the parish’s middle and high school youth ministry and confirmation program coordinator and director of technology. Honahan is a parishioner.
The trio has performed together for about five years and after they sang a couple of Monkees songs Father Cardinale decided to call their pop band, “Monkee Shines.”
So what is it like singing in front of his parishioners?
“It’s great because they’re very forgiving,” he said. “I wouldn’t call myself a great singer, but I can carry a tune.”
 
Mr. Hart said Father Cardinale sings better than he admits. “He really gets into singing a song, especially if it’s a song he loves,” Mr. Hart said. “Even though he prefers singing in his lower range, he has the ability to sing with his high voice, too, and he sounds great when he does that.”
Mr. Hart said the talent show should be fun and he hopes each performer takes the same approach as he will.
“By sharing my talent on stage for a few brief moments,” he said, “I will not only be giving some sunshine to everyone in the audience, but to a child in Haiti.”
The plan is to have all the acts sing, “That’s What Friends Are For,” for the finale.
 
Father Cardinale has been a long-time theater buff. When he was growing up, he appeared in talent shows at Immaculate Conception Parish in Marlborough. Believe it or not, as a junior at Marlborough High School he starred as an old, eccentric Russian priest in a comedy based on the Woody Allen movie, “Don’t Drink the Water.”
 
While attending Framingham State College, he appeared in Phil Silver’s role in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
He helped stage and appeared in three talent shows when he was pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel in West Boylston and three more when he was pastor at St. Mary and St. Philip parishes in Grafton.
“I’ve had a blast doing it at my other parishes,” he said.
Most acts were singers, but at Our Lady of Good Counsel, a couple of parishioners performed “Who’s on First,” the legendary Abbott and Costello comedy routine. At both of his previous parishes, women dressed as nuns and sang, “Hail Holy Queen,” from the movie, “Sister Act.”
In the spring of 2021 when the pandemic wasn’t under control, he helped organize St. John Paul II Parish’s talent show on Facebook. Father Cardinale said the virtual talent show didn’t charge admission, but the accompanying raffle raised a much needed $8,000-$10,000 for the parish because other fundraisers were canceled due to the pandemic.
A smaller raffle will be held with the talent show on Feb. 11 and Father Cardinale hopes to raise at least $2,000 for the boys’ home.
 
Father Cardinale visited the boys’ home in Les Cayes in 2000 and parishioners have visited many times. The home has dirt floors and no running water, but it provides shelter, meals, job training, family skills training and responsibilities for the dozen residents. The home has had several success stories with some boys becoming police officers and others finding jobs in electronic repair, the cell phone industry and sales. Many of the former residents have started families and made a difference in their communities.
“The community’s long-standing relationship with the boys’ school in Haiti,” Mr. Hart said, “has everything to do with being faithful, to loving with your heart and your hands, whether it’s convenient or inconvenient, in good times and in bad.”
Elaine Martel, former music minister and former bookkeeper for the parish, will direct the show and Rich Gaudette will help with the sound.
Father Cardinale also plans to do a little comedy, but he said the show needs more volunteers to reach the goal of having 10 to 12 acts.
“As much as I love to perform, I don’t want to be the whole show,” Father Cardinale said.
Actually, a few acts have already registered, including Tony Postale and his son, Anthony Postale, who plan to sing Beatles songs.
 
If you’d like to appear in the talent show or help out in any way, contact Father Cardinale by Saturday, Jan. 14, at krcardinale@gmail.com or call him at the parish at 508-765-3701, ext. 103. You do not have to belong to the parish to perform in the show. Rehearsals will be held prior to the show.
Tickets, which will cost $15 and include refreshments at intermission, can be purchased at the door or by calling the parish at 508-765-3701.