LOCAL entertainers Chris Gopaul and Michael Ignatius had the time of their lives in New York recently when they performed under HUGE Entertainment’s launch of the ‘I am Eldorado’ 50th anniversary party to be held on August 28.Due to the fact that many overseas-based Guyanese would be coming to Guyana in celebration of Independence Day on May 26, HUGE Entertainment decided to hold their party in August when most of those who travelled are expected to be back in the US.

HUGE Entertainment (H-Honest, U-Unity Squad, G- G6, E-Energy Squad) is made up of various Guyanese groups that came together with the sole purpose of promoting the Guyanese talent.

Representatives of the unit are Dexter Wallace, Damon Wallace, Marc Wallace, Kevin Hope, Ocie Ross, Jason Waldron, Shoan Sampson, O’neil Alexander, Dwayne Campbelle, and Dawn Catalina.

Chris and Michael’s plans included performing at the party in Brooklyn, New York, but little did they know they would have to call home and ask for more time off from work to be able to perform at another show the following week in Queens.

Word got around quickly on the street that the two were performing in Brooklyn and due to the videos and photos which circulated on social media, the overwhelming response and request to do another show just could not be turned down by Chris and Michael.

Says Chris: “If we didn’t insist to come home for Easter to spend time with our loved ones, we would have had to stay and do more shows.”

Chris and Michael were not paid to do the shows as they did not have the necessary work permits in place. This is currently being worked on, though, so that they can return in the future and actually “make something” on their talent.

“We will help as many persons as we could. A lot of persons in the industry are greedy and selfish. They only look out for themselves and the money. We don’t condone that type of attitude. You must love what you do first and foremost,” Chris told this newspaper in an interview.

The duo performed for at least one and a half hours at each show with skits and standup comedy. The audience particularly loved the country slang they used.

“It was an awesome and totally amazing feeling. It felt good to be appreciated and made me feel as though what I do makes sense. They made us feel like stars; everyone wanting to snap photos with us after the shows,” Chris said.
“I performed in the Caribbean before but this was my very first time in North America. It was well received, judging from the response we got. We have accomplished most of what we set out to do. It was crazy,” said Michael.

He said both he and Chris are very grateful to HUGE Entertainment for promoting them, and expressed some disappointment that the same is not done for local artistes locally.

“Nothing much is being done for the entertainment industry here. Over here, artistes are stifled. People want a lot out of you, but they do not want to pay.”

Michael said there is still a lot of talent in Guyana that America needs to see. (Telesha Ramnarine)