MORGANTOWN – Cue announcer: “This is … Mohigan Idol.”
OK, so Ryan Seacrest won’t be on the stage of The Metropolitan Theatre this spring to emcee, but that won’t stop the juggernaut that is the aforementioned from happening.
The 2026 edition of the talent competition that showcases students from Monongalia County Schools while raising money for WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s takes place April 11 at downtown Morgantown’s storied venue.
Over the past 17 years of its existence, Mohigan Idol has brought in more than $250,000 for the hospital that treats patients from across West Virginia and the region.
Pretty good for a venture that began with a question tossed up during a meeting of the student council of Morgantown High School in 2008, as Gretchen Gibson, an MHS teacher who advises council, recalls.
The council was looking for something different for a fundraiser, as the faculty member remembers.
“American Idol” was really popular at the time – and the idea was to draw on the popularity of the TV show with the talent show.
“That’s a great idea,” Gibson told The Dominion Post previously. “‘Have at it,’ I said.”
It went from a full act to a full-on event.
Interpretative dancers. Metal bands. Bluegrass bands. Garage bands. Poetry slammers and vocalists dipping into the Great American Songbook.
Last year’s event brought in nearly $19,000 for the hospital.
The banner year to date is 2022, when $40,000 poured in – all those parents, grandparents and family friends sponsoring the acts – and even in the pandemic year of 2020, when the show had to be presented virtually, $10,000 was the take.
“That’s all from the community,” Gibson said of the talent show that donates 100% of the proceeds to WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s.
In the meantime, auditions, via a private YouTube channel, are being accepted through Feb. 28.
Gibson likes the community charm of the event that includes students from first grade to their senior year, and she likes the longevity.
“We’ll have students on the stage who weren’t even born in 2008.”
