BY ISABELLA MARCON
As Cooper City High’s annual Variety Show draws closer, preparations for the show are currently underway. On September 6 and 7, the Class of 2019 held Variety Show host auditions for all seniors. Although the performance acts of the show are known to be the main attraction, the hosts are integral to the success of the show.
The hosts are responsible for creating a comedic dialogue that should overlap with the acts of the show itself and choosing which acts will be performed in between their skits.
“The hosts are the base of the show,” Class of 2019 Treasurer Alexa Pichardo said. “The hosts perform skits in between all acts and they introduce the different acts.”
The Class of 2019 officers recruit around five to six hosts each year for the show, aiming to create a team with an equal number of boys and girls. Throughout the show, the hosts rotate in between performances and add humorous interludes for the audience.
“The hosts perform skits in between all acts and they introduce the different acts.”
“With rotating them, they are all on stage at all times, depending on skits,” Alexa Pichardo said. “It depends on how many people the skit calls for, so if there’s a football player talking to a cheerleader, it’s gonna be a boy and a girl. In a way, they all do rotate, but for the most part, they are all on stage all at the same time.”
The hosts implement their own performances in the show as skits. In order to properly execute a skit, the hosts have to relate to the audience while adding humor to the equation.
“In the past, people have made fun of the lightning alarms that go on in school just to make people laugh,” Class of 2019 Corresponding Secretary Alexandra Deso said. “Past hosts have also mimicked the ‘Mean Girls’ iconic Christmas scene.”
“Every year I try to do something different that will give the audience that ‘wow’ factor.”
The Variety Show typically allows for skit preparations months in advance but, this year, the show is planned to hit the stage on November 29 and 30, making the show take place a month earlier than in previous years. The only worry that arises is the week of break right before the show.
“The show is usually at the end of December, but this year it’s right after Thanksgiving break, so we’ll be rehearsing for a couple months and then we’ll have a week off,” Class of 2019 sponsor Alfredo Pichardo said. “People tend to forget, so we’ll have to turn ourselves on 100 percent right when we come back.”
As the annual tradition of the Variety Show continues, the Class of 2019 plans to surpass prior expectations from last year’s show in order to make this year’s show an event to never forget.
“Every year I try to do something different that will give the audience that ‘wow’ factor,” Alfredo Pichardo said. “I’m thinking of things that are very big, but now we just have to think of the budget to see how we can incorporate that into the show.”
Photo by The Lariat Photography
