By ALYSSA DUONG
Copy Editor
A dark room illuminated by stage lights and hanging string lights. A closed off stage, filled with over a dozen table, almost all being occupied. Silver spirals and stars hang from the ceiling. Little stars are scattered on the tables around a whimsical clapperboard centerpiece.
The scene was set perfectly for UHS Choir’s 2019 Cabaret Night. This year’s theme was “A Night at the Movies” chosen by choir director Mr. Justin Olvey.
Every year UHS Choir hosts a show called Cabaret Night, completely run by the executive choir board, whose members work tirelessly for months to prepare for it.
Choir board president, senior Sofia Canul said, “…we started even before the school year started. So we started in the summer organizing, but we’ve been doing it pretty much ongoing for like a couple months now… I can’t believe it’s already here. We still have more to do, so we’re very busy, but we’re excited for everyone to come see it.”
This year’s show displayed a multitude of talent within the UHS Choir.
There were lots of fun and impressive moments, like in senior Frank Cervantes’ “Singing in the Rain” where he wowed the crowd with his cool umbrella tricks, or in sophomore Audrey Moore and sophomore Aren Apellan’s “A Cover is Not a Book” when Apellan got to Lin Manuel Miranda’s part and pulled it off flawlessly. Both of these acts had great personas of showmanship, adding to the effect of the performances seeming to be straight out of the movies.
There were also many powerful and haunting performances, like junior Trisha Dang’s “I Fall in Love Too Easily” and senior Sun Lee’s “Love of My Life,” both of which conveyed such raw emotion combined with their beautifully soft voices, leaving many audience member quiet.
These performances were only the first half of the night.
In the latter half after intermission, it began with an exciting medley of songs from The Greatest Showman performed by the Footnotes, one of University High School’s two acapella groups. It started with all but one of the members behind the curtain behind the audience, stomping their feet and chanting, with the other member on stage acting as the announcer. It was definitely an unexpected and entertaining surprise for the audience.
One of the best parts of act two was in the middle, when there was one especially amusing performance that really stood out from the guys in Madrigals, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” which was a fun comedic bit in the midst of the many more serious acts in the latter of the show. Towards the end of the act they all started falling to the floor one by one, acting as if they were dying. That plus the choreography throughout the song really spiced up the second act.
The last two acts were very fitting for the show as a whole. The second to last act was every single performer coming out and performing “Rainbow Connection” which had a dreamy and wistful feel to it. It was pleasantly soft and calm, without being depressing as one of the last songs.
It was ironic as the stage cleared out so the only people left on stage were the members of choir board for their performance of, “We’re All in This Together.” With the rest of the performers standing around the room, at the sides of the stage, choir board performed the very last song of the night. It was a bit messy, but it was one of the most enjoyable acts seeing how much fun everyone was having together. The liveliness and togetherness of the whole thing really closed out the show on a fantastic note.
