On January 17th, 2025, the Class of 2026 student council officially announced the theme for the 85th annual Junior Varieties (JVs) on their Instagram account.
The post displayed an image that read, “Despicable Me: Junior Varieties Heist”. The council also announced that the tickets were to be sold after February break during all lunch periods for $10, or for $12 at the door. This announcement received immense positive feedback from students as the post earned more than 100 likes and 80 shares.
Before any praise toward the night itself, it is important to address the foundation of this despicable night and all the hard work that has been put into this to make it an enjoyable and memorable experience. The Class of ‘26 has made incredible efforts in regard to organization, preparation, and all the necessary aspects to make this night a success. The crew mainly consisted of student council members, but some volunteers agreed to help set up for the night.
“It’s been pretty organized considering that we started pretty early on, “ said junior Art Director and performer Moon To. “We started planning around October, so we had a lot of time to prepare for auditions; then right after auditions ended in December, we immediately started to call people for our ad book and started to prepare all the things we needed to buy: the decorations, the actors, everything.”
The maestro of this memorable occasion was junior Event Coordinator Vin Chau, who played a crucial role in the preparation and success of the night. Chau has been preparing for Junior Varieties since their election as event coordinator, speaking volumes about their dedication and tenacity to their role.
“I had an idea of how I wanted to schedule and organize events leading up to the show, and I had prior experience due to being involved in the Class of ’25’s Junior Varieties. It was stressful at times, but the hard work paid off,” Chau passionately stated.
Class of ‘26 President, Linh Do, offered her perspective in making sure everything went well with the preparation of the night holistically, while also preparing for her audition with junior Social Media Coordinator Sarah Fontaim.
Junior Gabriela Lemus, who was one of the show’s hosts, talked about her involvement in the night and how she felt excited to paint the picture and storyline.
“There was a lot of preparation for script writing. We had to come up with the storyline and introduce each act while still developing the story for it to make sense and still have enough time for each setup, for each act. It was pretty exciting. It was fun to be up on stage and have friends on stage and be able to be up there and just do that, and it was really fun,” expressed Lemus.
Junior Treasurer Oscar Luc, who had been tasked with performing on the AO Step Team and playing Gru in the cast, discussed his experience and impeccable balance of multiple responsibilities at once.
“It’s been pretty stressful,” stated Luc. As a student council member who is also on the Step Team, “I already had some things on my plate. However, it’s been really organized and we’ve had tremendous help from the crew, the rest of the council, and especially our JV coordinators and our advisor (Nancy Wentworth). With all the additions of the acts, making of the ad book with different companies, and making of the script, let’s just say it was a lot!”
The night opened with the band Frequency, who captured the audience’s attention with a rapid and uplifting rendition of “American Idiot” by the punk rock band Green Day. Junior head guitarist Nicholas Li was not scared to perform for the first time in front of a large audience.
“Despite what everyone might imagine a first performance would feel like, it was not nerve-wracking whatsoever,” affirmed Li. “Whether it be confidence in the role played or the auditorium’s great ability to hide the audience, any pre-stage nerves would be washed away in an instant.”
Frequency vibrated the crowd out of their seats as they blew the crowd away with an exhilarating opener to the night. “Our performance being the perfect energetic start as an opener. I had no expectations to be measured up to. If anything, I hope their reactions were genuine, I can’t ask for anything more,” claimed Li.
Next up was senior Faela Jasmin, who performed “Rise Up” by Andra Day; the crowd was speechless as they listened to her voice being echoed across the auditorium. Some students even rose up to congratulate her with a standing ovation after her performance.
The audience continued to be astonished as the following act, the Afro-Caribbean Dance Team, danced to their remix of classic Caribbean songs. “It felt really really good. I love representing my country and seeing others on the same page as me. It’s who we are and we are proud of that,” claimed junior Alecia Louigene, an Afro-Caribbean Dance Team member. “The dynamic and similarities are something that is very special, unique and appreciative.”
Then, junior Jasmin Diaz Gomez stood alone and expressed her projecting, yet sentimental voice by singing “No Me Queda Más” by Selena. The crowd was in awe, observing her taking control of the night.
Afterward was the long-awaited Aromatherapy band, which consisted of To, as well as seniors Jennifer Slawson, Beverly Tong, Milan Nguyen, and Heitor Soares. They performed the song “Get You” by Daniel Caesar. It seemed as if every person was waving their phone and chanting the lyrics to the well-known song.
To, while multitasking her duties on the student council, also performed with Aromatherapy and had high expectations for her and her group. They have performed consecutively for two years, making this year their second chance to shock the audience.
“I think we’re gonna do really good this year. We sound pretty good. I’m excited. I’m really excited,” To expressed before the performance.
After the Aroma died down, GalXC, a K-pop dance group comprised of seniors Zi Jefferson and Nashalyn Rubert, along with juniors Christina Robinson-McCaskill, Sorin Mamouzette, Aaliyah Lopes-Teixera, and Ndiaye Oliver-Destine, took the spotlight as they performed “Drama” by aespa. Their dance moves, choreography and synchronization was a testament to their hard work and preparation to this night.
Do and Fontaim were up next, in which Do was on the piano and Fontaim was on the vocals.
“I was actually kind of hoping that people would sing along and have their flashlights. That’s kind of the engagement that we wanted, especially when choosing the song, because I knew it was going to be a song that enough people knew to sing along with. And after the performance, everyone said that we did a really good job and everyone said that we had a really good act,” Do stated.
“It was honestly pretty nerve-wracking because even though I am used to singing on a stage; it’s different when you’re singing in front of people from your school,” Fontaim claimed.
The duo performed “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars, which evoked emotional and amiable feelings from the audience.
After this performance, an intermission began in order for the minions to go formulate their plan some more.
Rusty Screw was up next as they took the audience back in time with a classic: “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr. Seniors Slade Harding and Sean Retotal were in charge of the guitars, and Soares with the vocals.
“Getting onto that stage just felt so natural to me, performing is honestly one of my favorite things and being able to have the space to perform for others is just so amazing. The crew did such an amazing job on getting amps and chairs and the drumset in place so it made the process of performing just so much easier,” said Retotal.
Soares, who has performed in both acts, offers his perspective and what it means to be a part of this experience.
“Performing two times was definitely a challenge,” stated Soares. “I was actually meant to be in three acts, but unfortunately one was cut, so I only had two. My first act was definitely the harder one for me because the song was pretty high for me, but I still did good. My second act was my favorite simply because it was way calmer and it gave me a lot of chances to express myself through the music I was playing.”
Next was senior Stephanie Wong. As she played the ukulele, she offered a sweet and different performance of the song “Fictional” by Khloe Rose.
After that was a phenomenal performance by the Bald Ensemble as they were “fein’ing for more” after their performance of “FE!N” by Travis Scott.
The AO Step Team was next and made an impressive entrance with the song “Antidote” by Travis Scott. The Step Team had no problem stepping on stage and doing what they do best: performing.
The second to last act was senior Natalie Keating, who sang a solo rendition of the song “They Just Keep Moving The Line” by Smash Cast.
“As someone who does get the opportunity to perform on stage more than the average person, I will say that this experience differed in the fact that I had so much liberty and control over what I was doing,” voiced Keating.“I got to choose my song. I was given so much creative freedom in where I wanted to stand, how I wanted the lights to look, my costume was my own dress, all of these different things.”
“I was happy that people seemed to enjoy my performance,” Keating continued. “A lot of people came up to me after the show or during school in the following days, saying that they enjoyed my performance or that they thought I was talented.” Keating concluded that it was “really nice to see that I wasn’t a forgettable act, because Junior Varieties is, of course, about celebrating all different kinds of people who have something that they wanna share and put on stage.”
“Because Junior Varieties is, of course, about celebrating all different kinds of people who have something that they wanna share and put on stage.”
– Natalie Keating
Because they are seniors, this will be Keating and Soares’ last JVs performance.
“It felt really nice to perform again at JVs. It’s my last performance, so it definitely meant a lot more for me than any other performance and I’m definitely going to miss it,” claimed Soares.
Last but not least, the Powerful in Pink Dance group performed, creating a vibrant atmosphere as they danced to “Sticky” by Tyler the Creator.
Juniors Keith Vien and Yeshi Dorjee, audience members, both agree that the night was bittersweet and memorable as they share their opinions on this outstanding night.
“The moment that will stick with me the most is seeing all of my friends and classmates succeed so well inside their performances during the show. It was great to see everyone perform very exceptionally,” said Vien.
“I think the performances were pretty good. I was very impressed with how coordinated and how well planned it was and like the performances are really nice to see,” claimed Dorjee.
“JVs was an amazing experience, I went this year and I had an amazing time watching the whole event. I didn’t go to JV’s last year; I went this year to support my class, and I don’t regret going this year because it was great,” stated Vien.
“Just the thought of being together with friends and just watching performances together in that moment was really something that I can cherish,” Dorjee voiced emphatically.
Outstanding is an understatement. The grandeur of these performances will be echoed throughout Malden High’s history, as it already has been throughout these 85 consecutive years. Catch the next JVs and be prepared to be blown away by all the talents ranging from many different proficient skills and hard work that is sure to compel emotional and exciting nerves and feelings!
