A spotlight shines bright; the crowd quiets, ready for the performance to start. MCs, or hosts of the show,  Gianna Kosir and Lydia Brownlee introduce to the audience the VMA (Video Music Awards) theme of the Revere Variety Show and begin to announce the acts. The VMA theme carried throughout the whole show with each act in running for best singer, dancer or whatever their performance happened to be. 

High schoolers and middle schoolers performed in the Variety Show in January to showcase their talents to the Revere crowd. 

After the clock reached 7pm, the tech booth dimmed the lights to begin the first act. 

First to perform was a seventh grade band composed of singer Myles Kelly, drummer Sam Hogan and bass player Lorenzo Ortiz. The band performed “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, and the crowd left the youngest act with a standing ovation.

The first high schooler to perform took the stage with her voice singing “I See Red” by Everybody Loves an Outlaw. Sophomore Katarina Stevanovic has performed in the variety show before and came back this year to showcase her talent again. Stevanovic talked about what songs she has performed in the past.

“I’ve been actively involved in singing since fourth grade. I’ve done the variety show twice in the past— in 6th grade I sang ‘Part of Your World’ from The Little Mermaid and in 9th grade I sang ‘Shallow’ from A Star is Born,” Stevanovic said.

The singer enjoyed making friends with upperclassmen and performing in a later act with senior Robert Wainwright. Stevanovic is part of Revere Players and will be part of the ensemble in Mamma Mia for the spring musical. 

On a more classical note, junior Fuma Kondo came back for another year to impress the audience on the piano. He played “Scherzo no. 2” by Fredric Chopin for the full seven and a half minutes. 

For his first performance at Revere, freshman Tyler Montgomery sang “Control” by Zoe Wees. The song was released at the beginning of the pandemic, and Montgomery brought it back with a male voice instead of the original female singer. 

To switch the mood from a serious song, junior Kendal Zverloff entered the stage to perform her original comedy act. Zverloff joked about her old job at Chuck E Cheese and how she was the mouse. She talked about the unwashed costume and little kids’ anger issues. 

For the first dance of the night, junior Lily Blower performed a contemporary and lyrical dance to “Here Comes the River” by Patrick Watson. Blower explained why she chose this song. 

“I really like the artist, Patrick Watson. . . . I think [the song] really resonates with me emotionally, and I just really like his voice,” Blower said. 

Blower has been dancing for fifteen years and dances at Art In Motion, where she performs almost every type of dance. She hopes to return with another dance next year. 

Next on stage were seniors Izzy Gardner and Kendall Morrison performing “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets. The two decided on the song with their friend and fellow performer Owen Lipstreu. Morrison spoke on how they chose the song. 

“Owen said, ‘Wouldn’t it be so funny if you guys sang Man or Muppet together at the Variety show?’ And we said yes that would be hilarious. We were sitting in the car in the Taco Bell parking lot and we decided right there that Izzy was the man and I was the muppet,”

Morrison is playing Sophie in the upcoming school musical Mamma Mia and grew from a more shy singer to the lead. She explained why she decided to do the Variety Show for the first time her senior year. 

“At this time last year, I was confident in my singing ability, but I wasn’t as confident as I am now, and I don’t have that much time left [in high school,] so I’ll use it to the best of my ability in a way that makes me happy,” Morrison said. 

The two are both performing in the spring musical with Gardner as Rosie. 

Continuing on the singing track, freshman Zahara Lorenzo took the stage with friend and sister of the previous act, Hailey Morrison. The two performed “Cups” by Anna Kendrick. The song was popular around six years ago, where many tried to learn how to move a cup in a certain way to match the beat of the song. Bringing back middle school memories, Morrison moved the cup to create that beat for the entire song while Lorenzo sang. 

Next up was trio Sophia Salmons, Grace Deliberato and Luca Deliberato. The Deliberto’s are twins and seniors and Salmons joined the two to sing “Closer to Fine” by The Indigo Girls. The girls harmonized with their voice while Luca backed them up on acoustic guitar. Salmons explained how the song paired with their voices. 

“Grace sings soprano and I sing alto, and we thought it would go well with our voices,” Salmons said. 

Salmons and Luca are in the band Amphibian as well and the two along with other band members perform at other places. 

Next to the stage was sophomore Lily Dunn who brought the audience to Broadway singing “With You” from Ghost the Musical. Dunn had no props and just used her voice and hand gestures to convey what she wanted to in the song. 

To close out the first act, Michael Gallup performed his original song “Pantomime.” The sophomore played guitar and sang to his grungy song.

After a ten minute intermission, the crowd shuffled back in to watch the second act. To start the second half, senior Reagan Morrison sang a Bob Dylan classic. She soothed the audience with “Make You Feel My Love,” also sung by Adele on her first album. Morrison has been in choir since middle school and showed off her talent outside of the choir room. 

After an array of singers, a duet with junior Johnston Minich and senior Nicole Coveney broke up the voices with saxophones. The two used different saxophones and played two different songs. For the second song, Coveney switched to a baritone sax for a deeper sound. 

After a few more serious songs, senior Bella DiLauro switched up the emotions when she sang “Sad” by Bo Burnham. What sounds like a depressing song, Burnham’s piece is exaggerated to be comedic. DiLauro explained why she went for a comedy act rather than a more serious song. 

“I wanted to switch it up and add my own little unique touch to two classic performance types. Plus, I see myself more of a performer rather than a singer, and I really wanted to show that side off a little; I never got to play comic relief in the shows I’ve been in, so I wanted to have a little fun,” DiLauro said. 

DiLauro wanted to wow the audience with the extreme song, but was wowed herself by the audience’s reaction to her performance.

“I was really shocked with how good the audience reception was; I was expecting maybe a few giggles here in there, but hearing the audience roar made me so happy,” DiLauro said. 

DiLauro has been in players for a couple years and just began taking voice lessons last November. She will appear in Mamma Mia in the spring in the ensemble. 

After multiple singers, junior Sage Owens performed her original slam poetry. Owens spoke about fitting in and people judging in her own words where she spoke quietly and loudly at parts to emphasize her meaning.

Turning back to classical, junior duo Leah Valentine and Serena Guo performed “Praeludium and Allegro” by Fritz Kreisler. Valentine played the violin for almost six minutes with Guo on the piano backing her up. Valentine spoke on what the piece meant to her and why she chose “Praeludium and Allegro.” 

“This is actually my dad’s favorite piece. When I had my first recital at five years old, there was a senior who played that piece very well, so I also see this piece as symbolic for my own growth,” Valentine said.

Valentine has played the violin since she was four and used to play in the Akron Youth Symphony. 

Next up was junior Ella Saltis, who sang “Cry Me a River” by Julie London. Saltis comes from a musical family with her father, a Revere alum, in a band as well as her keyboard player brother and another Revere alum, Lawrence Saltis. Saltis sang the emotional piece and carried the audience through the whole song. 

Next up, for a slightly surprising appearance was sophomore Omar Moussa. He was not originally on the list, but the MCs told the audience Moussa would make an appearance in the show. Moussa sang “We Fell in Love in October” by girl in red along with playing acoustic guitar for the beat.

Continuing on the singing track, senior Owen Lipstreu took the stage with “7 Years” by Lukas Graham. He spoke about why he chose the song he did. 

“It’s a song I really liked growing up and I was listening to it in the car one day and it just hit me again that I really like the meaning behind it. I felt like I could sing this well so hopefully I could pass the meaning on onstage to people and show what I can do,” Lipstreu said. 

While Lipstreu sang about growing old, he was aware of his shaky hand. He talked about how hard he tried to dismiss the shakiness and his experience after he finished singing. 

“While I was singing, my hand was shaking and I was watching it. In my head I was thinking and trying to get it to stop and then couldn’t, and then after I finished singing, I booked it to the dressing room and threw on my entire black outfit in about 35 seconds and then Kendall threw a bunch of eyeliner on my face and then we went,” Lipstreu said. 

A few performances after “7 Years” was senior Robert Wainwright, who had previous acts in his performance hence the black eyeliner.

After a string of singers, senior Lauren Weil broke it up by breaking it down in her contemporary dance to “Sort Of” by Ingrid Michaelson. Weil has been dancing for sixteen years and dances every type of dance at Art in Motion with earlier act Blower. She created the piece with a choreographer not associated with the studio. Weil, working with her choreographer, chose the song for many reasons, Weil explained why they decided on “Sort Of.”

“I’ve known this song for a really long time, stylistically the song grows in intensity which I like and I really like her voice,” Weil said.

Weil has performed in the variety show before, but pointed out why this year was her favorite. 

“This was the first year of the variety show where I had a lot of friends in the show, and it’s way more fun,” Weil said. 

Switching back to singing, sophomore Lily Fox performed “Astronomy” by Conan Gray. Fox has been singing since she was nine and explained her reasoning for choosing a calming Conan Gray song. 

“I picked the song Astronomy because it feels comfortable to sing in my range, and I just love the song and the artist, Conan Gray,” Fox said. 

Fox also talked about why she did the Variety Show and what the show brings to performers at Revere. 

“I think that this is a great show for people who want to do something artistic without a high level of commitment, obviously depending on which talent you would like to showcase,” Fox said. 

Fox performed another song last year and hopes to perform again as a junior. 

The next act may be hard to forget because as the MCs said, famous singer Michael Jackson was revived and came to Revere for the show. Although MJ was not really here, senior Robert Wainwright took stage to perform “Thriller.” Wainwright brought the music video to life and used many of the dancers and singers from previous acts to be backup dancers for the show. Wainwright spoke on how he wanted to bring the 1983 music video to life. 

“I didn’t want to just stand there and sing, I knew I wanted to just have the whole Thriller vibe. . . . I knew I wanted to layer each thing like a cake; it was something else and then something else,” Wainwright said. 

Wainwright continued to layer different pieces onto his performance beginning with just singing at the mic, to a full costume change, to a multitude of ‘zombies’ coming to life behind him. 

To finish the 2023 Revere VMAs was the band Jor. The band consists of seniors Aiden Passalaqua, Cameron Weir, and junior Pace Catlett. The band performed last year as well, but now, as the final act, added fun lights and brought the audience into the music. To read more about Jor click here. 

After Jor finished out the night with two songs, all the acts got on stage to take a final bow, but before the audience shuffled back out the door, Jor called down to the stage all the seniors and sang one last song. The seniors and previous performers danced and sang along until the song was finished.