Revere High School’s Revere Players organized and ran the 2026 Variety Show, a student-run event supported by performers, emcees, a backstage crew and a tech crew. The included two acts and featured primarily musical performances, ranging from solo vocalists to full bands.
Challenged with fewer rehearsals due to multiple snow days, adviser Amy Fagnilli and students worked together to bring the show to its final and finished production on time. Revere Players presented the show on Saturday, January 31, at 7:00 pm at the Revere High School (RHS) auditorium, and audiences could purchase tickets either online or at the door. In addition to showcasing student talent, the Variety Show also serves as a fundraiser for Revere Players, with ticket sales supporting their future productions.
The Variety Show allows many students to perform for their friends and family who would ordinarily not get to see that anywhere else.
“It’s a chance to see your fellow students and what they can really do when they’re taken off the leash and performing what they want to perform. It really brings attention to the individual performer and also helps build a sense of community because it’s a lot of people coming together to see a performance,” Fagnilli said.
This year was senior Max O’Banion’s first time performing in the Variety Show. O’Banion participated in two acts and said his decision to audition came after seeing the show last year. His first act was accompanied by Ryan Carol in a Euphonium duet of “Devil’s Waltz” by Steven Verhelst and Kaleb Smith. His second act was with his band Pontius Pilot with Kalden Orr-Bills, Liam Blower and Sam Hogan. They played “Edit the Sad Parts” by Modest Mouse, and O’Banion played the bass.
“I really wanted to show off my talents and play for people and as a senior, it was my last year,” O’Banion said.
O’Banion started to prepare for the show before he even decided to participate.
“Two years ago, I saw somebody play [the Devil’s Waltz] on Instagram, and I was like, ‘I need to play that. I need to learn it, and I want to perform it,’” O’Banion said. When the Variety Show came up, it was his opportunity to put his plans to action.
Auditions are usually held every December and students who sign up then perform a segment of their performance, and Fagnilli and art teacher Bob Pierson evaluate the performances.
“If their performance is high quality, they’re in the show. If there are issues with their performance, we might give them feedback and ask them to re-audition privately at a later time,” Fagnilli said.
According to Fagnilli, the Variety Show depends heavily on student independence and preparation. She has overseen the show since the late 2000s and noticed that the event has shifted in recent years, with fewer novelty acts and more performance-focused pieces.
“We used to get a lot more acts that were variety-based, like comedy acts or recreations of YouTube skits. . . .The show has turned a little bit more serious in recent years but I kind of think that’s a good thing because we have really amazing high school performers,” Fagnilli said.
Senior Nicky Ghiorghie held multiple responsibilities in the Variety Show. He served as both a performer and one of the show’s three emcees. The emcees wrote out a script to introduce each act in between with the hope of making the audience laugh and maintaining the flow of the show.
“Mrs. Fagnilli helped us a lot with revising what we wrote, making sure that it was not too much of a bit and also not too much of just introducing. She helped us find the balance,” Ghiorghie said.
Balancing both responsibilities added pressure throughout the night for Ghiorghie. He described a minor technical difficulty that occurred this year when he was “covered in snow” for a bit. He kept slipping as he tried to get back to the stage because of his wet dress shoes which created a brief delay.
“It honestly was kind of hard with all the snow days, I think we all just kind of felt unprepared and then to be unprepared for emceeing and performing was kind of nerve-wracking, and I felt like I was in multiple places at once,” Ghiorghie said.
Ghiorghie emceed last year’s Variety Show, however, this year was his first time performing in it.
“I’m going to be honest, . . . I wanted to perform more than I wanted to be an emcee this year, but I’m so glad I did both,” Ghiorghie said.
