In the auditorium the seats are filled with hundreds of excited students. Some wait patiently, using hard folders and paper to draw or do homework. A few students stand behind the rows of seats, practicing dance moves or trying to perfect a particularly hard part of their scores. Some sit outside of the auditorium, eating snacks and making phone calls. On the stage, the choir directors and stage crew rush around, adjusting lights, moving props, and barking out orders to be carried out. Mr. Fiorini, the head director, occasionally moves to the end of the catwalk to observe the stage from the audience’s perspective. There is no time to rest or play around; the choir program is carrying out their final rehearsals in preparation for the annual Pop Show.

Biting her lip and adjusting her glasses, senior Jasmine Moreno stands near the wings patiently. As a longtime member of the program, Moreno has contributed greatly to the choir program. In fact, she has even made the choreography for the finale of the show, the song that every choir sings together.

“The hardest part [of creating choreography] was figuring out things that were doable for everyone, you know,” Moreno said. “Not everyone is the best dancer, so I wanted to make it easy, but still really fun.”

Despite her vast performing experience, Moreno still gets nervous from time to time before putting on shows.

“When you’re up on stage, you just have to get in the moment. Turn the butterflies into positive energy and put on a great show,” Moreno said.

Backstage, senior Jordan Walls walks with a purpose, adjusting mics and giving orders to her subordinates. Walls is no novice to being a stagehand; she has worked behind the scenes for the Pop Show for the past three years and helps set people up with microphones before they go on stage.

“Everything happens really quickly,” Walls said, moving a wire out of the way to prevent people from tripping over it. “Sometimes you forget to turn a microphone on for a person, or someone comes backstage late. Things can get very chaotic.”

Although they do the work necessary for the show to be a success, the stage crew can often go unacknowledged by students.

“I think that we can definitely be under appreciated by students sometimes,” Walls said. “But the directors are always super helpful and appreciative.”

In the audience, senior Debhani Cantu looks at the stage in contemplation. Although she has been involved with choir for a while, she still feels the normal bout of nerves.

“I feel like everyone gets nervous [before performing]. I personally always get a little nervous the second before I get on stage,” Cantu said. “I calm my nerves by finding my friends and family in the audience and reminding myself that I have their love and support. Even if I happen to mess up, it isn’t the end of the world.”

However, she is nonetheless excited to showcase the fruits of her hard work at the show.

“I’m definitely excited for the show,” Cantu said. “We’ve worked super hard as a choir to prepare and make sure that we put on a great show for everyone.”

The annual Pop Show will take place on February 9th and 10th at 7PM. Tickets will be sold during lunches during the 7th-9th, but will still be available for purchase at a higher price at the door.