Piecing variety together

According to Phoebe Handler, Variety Show student director, co-director Evelyn Tarnovsky and she have been looking forward to working with Director Andrew Wallace to put together the show since last year.

“Last year we emailed [Wallace] in March saying that we were really interested, and he was like, ‘Just send me an application in the beginning of the year,’” Handler said.

Around that time, Casey Clack, assistant director of the Variety Show, was asked by Michael Tarjan, assistant principal of Student Activities, to work on the show’s production team.

While performers sing and dance on stage, Tarnovsky, Handler, Clack and Wallace work behind-the-scenes.

“We are in charge of the administrative stuff like talking to the students, emailing them, making sure no conflicts come up within the schedules,” Tarnovsky said.

Clack said although scheduling the show is a challenge, Wallace is extremely organized, so the two of them are able to put the show together.

“It’s my job to make sure the Variety Show, as a whole, is like one big show that then seamlessly flows together in an organized way,” Wallace said.

According to Clack, the Variety Show is unique because each act is an “independent entity.” Each one is like a show within itself, and the performers must put in a lot of work separately.

“From check-in rehearsal to check-in rehearsal, you can tell that the groups have done a lot of work to get ready on their own time,” Clack said.

According to Wallace, within the ten days before the opening night, the acts start rehearsing as one show, all together.

“[Variety Show is] a great thing that our school does because a large majority of the show are acts that were created by students,” said Wallace. “And it’s their ideas and their music or their dancing or their comedy.”

According to Handler, one way to showcase the students’ work is that this year there will be an in-school preview for all students.

“This year, we’re doing an in-school preview,” said Tarnovsky. “So, it’s going to be 45 minutes of the show. It’s going to be an assembly day, like what we did for the winter concert. We’re going to show a preview of some of the acts.”

The in-school preview is scheduled to take place on Feb. 12. The show is scheduled to run Feb. 11-13. Tickets may be purchased for $13 at the Student Activity Office or online at ShowTix4U.com.