Music of Fairview – Extravaganza!

Extravaganza, a night for every performing arts group to come together and showcase their talent, is a school tradition. Every year, in October, all the musical groups come together and perform in the main gym. This year, there were 19 different groups from the choirs, bands, orchestras and the musical.

“It’s the only time that the entire community can see our entire department, and that’s really important to us […]. I don’t think people realize the depth or the breadth of our department until they go to Extravaganza,” said Janice Vlachos, who is the performing arts department head.

“I personally really like Extravaganza, and I enjoy choir and I wouldn’t be in choir if I didn’t want to go to the performances.”

“I personally really like Extravaganza, and I enjoy choir and I wouldn’t be in choir if I didn’t want to go to the performances,” said sophomore Annessa Buggy.

“It was just such a fun experience to listen to all of the talented musicians and all the different programs within the fine arts department,” said sophomore Lindsey Kendall, who is in Age of Guenivere, Enchantment and the musical.

“I get to see a lot of other groups perform that I don’t usually get to see. I don’t really go out of my way to go see jazz band concerts that much, but I do enjoy watching them, so that’s really nice,” said junior Kaden Du, who is involved with the choir program and the musical.

Teachers also have the opportunity to see students perform, an opportunity that comes pretty rarely.

“I think it’s a great avenue for students to show what they can do musically and artistically,” said Jim Hensley, a language arts teacher.

“I’m super proud of all the groups, and I also think it’s really wonderful to see all the younger groups and then to see the older groups, and you can see all the advancement through the years and how special that is,” said Vlachos, who is the performing arts department head.

However, not everyone enjoys this night as much.

“It would still be long and really hot and kind of miserable still, but at least I’m not there for three hours.”

“I think Extravaganza would be way better if it was only the choir department, because then it would still be long and really hot and kind of miserable still, but at least I’m not there for three hours. […] My parents aren’t coming. They think it’s hot and annoying,” said sophomore Olivia Savidge.

Similarly, another student said, “I hate it. With my whole heart, so much. It’s so long. […] I really dislike Extravaganza, and I dread it. It will have it be shorter, and maybe have it broken into two nights because it’s just too long.”

Extravaganza takes around three hours to showcase all the programs in the department. Since it’s in the gym, audience members are forced to sit on the bleachers, which can be very uncomfortable. Because of this, Extravaganza is not exactly family-friendly.

Vlachos said, “I know people talk about the length of it, but I don’t think that much about it because I just think it’s so amazing to see so much talent.”