At New Trier, annual variety show goes virtual
New Trier High School junior Ethan Hoffman said he and his fellow student directors hesitated only briefly when they realized after more than eight decades, the COVID-19 pandemic would prevent the Winnetka high school’s storied “Lagniappe-Potpourri” variety show from being performed live this fall.
But as the old saying goes, the showmust go on.
Hoffman and his fellow members of the cast and crew quickly pivoted, creating a virtual performance of this year’s production, “From Scratch,” which debuted Thursday night.
Performances also are scheduled for Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.
“The students at New Trier have been so passionate about putting on this showevery year for so long, we knew we really wanted to make it happen,” said Hoffman, 17, ofWilmette.
The virtual show, which was directed by students with support from fine arts faculty serving as mentors, features the talents of 43 performers presenting original skits, songs and dances, as accompanied by studentdesigned sets, lights and costumes.
“I think the hardest thing for us was that we’re such a close community, so we would have to keep remembering, ‘Hey, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic,’ and I’m really proud of how we made sure we were super safe while we were working on the show,” Hoffman said.
New Trier senior Katie Weis, 17, of Winnetka, said directing the actors in this year’s show meant filming the scenes in a variety of locations, including a nearby forest preserve and other destinations across theNorth Shore.
Despite the students missing out on the chance to perform their skits, songs and dances before a live audience in the high school’s storied auditorium, Weis said this year’s virtual production has a silver lining.
“My grandparents live in California, and they would not have been able to come out to see the show live,” Weis said. “What’s exciting about the virtual show is it reaching so many more people.”
Nina Lynn, who teaches theater at New Trier, and servedas a mentorandhead sponsor for the production, said when the student directors were named last spring, shortly after the high school was closed due to COVID-19, the teens made it clear, “they wanted to do some version of the show.”
Hence, auditions were conducted virtually via videotape, and the student directors turned to Zoom, iMovie and Google Docs to brainstorm and ultimately create a digital production.
“The big question became, ‘how do you adapt what you were doing with live theater to a digital format?’ ” Lynn said.
For tech students who are accustomed to working with live theater, this year’s show demanded they learn new skills, including lighting and recording videos, as well as using microphones, Lynn said.
“They ended up scouting outdoor locations to film, and found a differentway to do their art form,” Lynn said, adding: “They really modeled resiliency, and we’re so proud of our students, and what they put together.”