Past, present, future. Traditions continue to create lifelong memories and connections that individuals will carry with them forever. The 50th Annual Glenbrook South Variety Show aims to celebrate all its performers through a captivating performance, Robbie Shellard, Choral Director and V-Show Co-Director, said.
This year’s performance will feature traditional acts such as Singer-Dancers, Backup Singers, Comedy Troupe, pit, stage crew, and TV mixed in with new acts by South students, Shellard said. This year’s V-Show will incorporate all the years that have come before, while still maintaining a balance in acts to represent the new and old equally, Shellard continued.
“‘Be Our Guest,’ which is [a song that is sung] every variety show, is a nice testament to all that has come before,” Shellard said. “We hope that by naming every show there’s that testament to all that [past students] have done and the path that they’ve paved for current students.”
V-Show celebrates student creativity and talent and connects all the students involved, Dr. Mark Maranto, Assistant Principal of Student Activities and the producer of V-Show, said.
“What I love about the Variety Show is the great collective effort [where a] bunch of people come together to put on this show,” Maranto said. “It’s a really special way to entertain and showcase talent, but also for students to bond with one another [and remember] the experience [as] a core high school memory.”
Recognizing V-Show alumni is a big part of this year’s production, Shellard said. Not only are alumni invited back to watch the show first hand as guests of honor, South is also hosting several events for alumni to reconnect with each other, Shellard added.
An Eat and Greet brunch buffet will take place before the 2:00 p.m. show on Saturday, Feb. 22, while a V-Show alumni reunion will take place afterwards off campus. Shellard, who was part of the juggling act all four years when he attended South, hopes that V-Show will create a bridge between past and present performers.
“My dream is [having] some [alum] from the early ‘90s, juggling with me and my friends from high school [and] juggling with my current students here at South so we get this chain of tradition,” Shellard said. “None of us were in high school at the same time, but we still have this shared love of Variety Show and juggling.”
At the end of this year’s show, the alumni present will have the opportunity to sing the South Alma Mater, further reconnecting them to their time at South, Maranto said. Organizers of Variety Show will teach, or refresh, alumni the song with current performers so that there will be a part of the V-Show that they will be able to participate in, Maranto explained.
“[Singing the South Alma Mater] will be special to the alum because [V-Show] will [bring] up some of those memories of what their time at South meant to them,” Maranto said.
Mike Macfadden, Career and Technical Education Teacher, participated in V-Show as a student during his freshman and senior years at South.
Macfadden made some of his closest friends in V-Show, some of whom he still is in touch with today.
“Variety Show is a really unique experience for a lot of different students,” Macfadden said. [Whether] you’re into comedy, music, dance, or any sort of performative art, there’s a place for you.”
When crafting the show, the directors focused on bringing together all the students and their visions through the series of acts, Shellard said.
“We wanted to make it a giant celebration of all that has come before and all that will follow as we continue in the traditions of those that have come before us,” Shellard said.
