Although described as talent show, Varieties proves to be much more than that. Varieties brings together hundreds of students to display their onstage talents. Friday and Saturday were the Varieties Semi-Finals which consisted of seven vignettes and seven pairings. A vignette involves either one student, or just a few, whereas a pairing can consist of around 50.

The semi-finals alternated between the vignettes and pairings, with emcees commentating between acts. Overall, the presentation was very well put together. Each night lasted around two and a half hours, but time flew because I was consistently entertained and never felt bored. Plus, the longer pairings were split up by shorter vignettes, which helped with pacing.

The pairings’ mini-musicals were the stars of the show. Each pairing was given around 20 minutes in which they would tell an original story using original choreography and original lyrics to existing songs. I was extremely impressed by the amount of work that went into each musical. Each pairing had dedicated costumes, meaningful lyrics and impressive acting.

The stories for each musical particularly stood out, whether it was Pairing B’s “Two Worlds” — a combination where Harry Potter met the Breakfast Club — or Pairing C’s “Back To The Future” tribute, each pairing gave off its own unique vibe.

The true standout out of all the pairings was Pairing D’s “Theo: A Legend in Progress”. It told the story of the Ancient Greek Theo, who had to rescue his wife from Hades. It was truly spectacular in every instance. Every character had a toga or other era appropriate costume and the sets changed for each new setting. The musical performances were strong here, as every character who had a solo knew what they were doing.

The vignettes had more freedom in what they could perform, as they did everything from juggling on unicycles to magic tricks. The vignettes did not have as epic of productions as the mini-musicals, but they remained very entertaining and fun.

The standout vignette was magician Michael Oz. He could only perform so many tricks in ten minutes, but his onstage presence was the most entertaining aspect of his performance. He had a comfortability with the stage that no one else had and was easily able to work a crowd. He was even able to play it off when a young girl from the crowd pointed out how he had performed a trick.

Overall, Varieties can be summed up as fun. Every performer has a blast on stage and it can be felt throughout the entire crowd.

Moving on to finals are pairings G (Night at the Museum), F (Not a Fairytale), E (Villains InCorpseOrated) and D (Theo: A Legend in Progress).

The vignettes moving on to finals will be Michael Oz, Christian Manahl, duo Rachel Pollastrini and Parker Reed, and trio Hayle, Taylor and Nolan.

Emcees Mathias Peters, Jake Lilienthal and Rennee Layoun will be hosting the finals.

Varieties finals will take place Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall.