Valparaiso High School’s April Antics is ‘Turning the Page’ on 2025 with variety acts
The student-led “April Antics” show is returning to Valparaiso High School’s (VHS) auditorium this weekend for a variety show unlike any other. This year’s show – “Turning the Page” – promises to once again demonstrate the incredible theatrical talent coming out of VHS.
“April Antics” has been a mainstay of the VHS arts community since its inception in the ‘90s, providing students an opportunity to put their best act forward. It’s an important step in fostering students’ creativity.
“The students take ownership of not just their performances on the stage, but every aspect of the production. It gives students a chance to step into those leadership roles that they may not otherwise have an opportunity to have,” Director Molly Oros said.
This year’s show has been in the works since the beginning of the year, when a theme is chosen and scripts are put together. After months of preparation, organization, and dedication, everyone was excited to see the show come to fruition.
“This is a unique show because it is student written and student directed. The writer team has been meeting since about November of last year pretty regularly to put together a script and come up with the concepts for the show. About a month ago, we auditioned actors and talent acts and have been working on integrating both into the show. It's a mixture of talent, a mixture of acting, some scenes, and a lot of fun,” Oros said.
As a variety show, “April Antics” lets students put on performances from multiple disciplines. Whether a one-act play, an orchestral composition, or an improv skit, performers had the chance to flex their talent in a way they might not get the chance to otherwise throughout the rest of the year.
The theme for this year, chosen by the performers, helped to set the tone for the performances.
“We started with the book theme and thought about a library and all the different stories and places you could go with books,” Oros said.
The student performers have been anticipating this year’s show since planning began.
“I am really excited. I really want to hear feedback about obviously my own scenes, but other people's scenes as well, because my peers have done a great job with both directing and writing their scenes. There's a lot of really funny scenes that I'm excited for people to see because I think they'll really enjoy it. I'm just excited to hear feedback about how the show looks in general from a costume and from a staging point of view,” said Senior Keira Ryan, “April Antics” writer, director, and member of the costume and makeup crew.
With Thursday’s dress rehearsal complete, the VHS performers are ready to present their hard work to the public! “April Antics” will run through this weekend with shows on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the VHS auditorium. If you’re looking for entertainment while you support your local community, “April Antics” is the show for you!
“I think that everyone will find something that they enjoy in this show and will find it entertaining,” Oros said.
To stay up to date with everything happening at Valparaiso High School, visit valpo.k12.in.us.