Just a week after Portage Has Talent made its debut on the same stage, Portage High School’s talented students were showcased in the 32nd annual Variety Show, presented by the PHS Thespians. Retired teacher William Bodnar was welcomed back as the special host for the evening. All of the proceeds from the program went to the school’s theatre and thespian department. Over the course of the evening, there were 32 different performances.
The show opened with a thrill as 12 students, sporting eerie-looking attire, danced to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Raina Bellow was next up, displaying her versatility by accompanying herself on the guitar while she vocalized the words to “Give Love a Try.”
It was time for some moves as Nikki Ruiz performed to “Iris,” the first of many dances on the night. Later on, Ruiz took the stage again along with Alyssa Sass to dance to “Sing Sing Sing.” In addition to their dance, Sass and Ruiz were members of a band called “Bruises,” which opened up Act II of the show. Max Zmija (guitar), Wesley Engle (guitar/vocals), Scott Ershick (strings), and Alyssa’s sister Ashley rounded out the group.
The only other band to perform was Problems and Principals, a group that has been very busy in the past two weeks. The group was making its third appearance at PHS in an eight day span. Wesley Engle is the lead singer, Cody Mitchell plays the guitar and Ike Perez is on the drums. They did an original piece.
According to Bodnar, it was an Indian dance duet by Parth Patel and Jeff Craig that truly made the show a variety show. Patel took the stage for an encore performance of Jai Ho, which he also danced to at last week’s variety show. This time, Patel showed newcomer Craig the ropes of Indian dancing.
Other singers included Kiara Goshay, Dan Soto, Hanna Medina, Tiffany Woloszyn, Mariah Pol, Kati Morrison, Kayla Turner and Ashley Sass. Goshay and Morrison wowed the crowd with their renditions of “Slow Motion” and “Just Breathe” respectively. Wolosyn, who is also a color guard and pep band member, took the mike with “Revelation Song.” Soto was accompanied by guitarist Angela Dornbos while he sang “I Will Follow You in the Dark.” Medina selected to do “The Way I Am,” accompanying herself on guitar. Turner and Sass did a duet of “Firework.” Senior Rodney Back, sporting large sunglasses, manned the guitar while Pol sang “Linger.”
A dance group called Blackout, comprised of nine different students, pulled off some spectacular moves. A pair of original and unique duos greeted the crowd again this week. Jahmil Crawford was joined by Kasean Earley for a rap called “You the Truth.” Top tier speakers Adrianna Coco and Simone Ingram, who appeared in Portage Has Talent as well, did another intriguing role play.
During the intermission, Joshua Sullivan entertained the crowd. He had several members of the audience come up on the stage to interact with him. Sullivan is a Renaissance Street Performer.
This year, the Variety Show concluded with a taste of what is around the corner in the Portage auditorium. The cast of the spring musical Hairspray danced and sang to “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” Solos were bellowed by Alanna Mossell, Jacob Cherry, Tianna McQueen, Kyra Fuller, Morgan Jackson, Scott Erishick and Eleanor Bloom. Sophomore Clarissa Tokash, who danced to “Jar of Hearts” earlier in the show, is in charge of choreographing the musical. Hairspray will open up on April 29 at 7:30.