Thursday, April 21, marks the date of the long lasting RBHS tradition; Capers. This school-wide talent show is at 7 p.m. and features an array of different performances following a comedic story line that highlights the many talents of the RBHS student body.
Unlike traditional talent shows, band director and assistant show coordinator Patrick Sullivan believes that Capers is a much more interesting performance as it features a non-linear progression of the acts.
“The competitive aspect of the [competition] is gone,” Sullivan said. “It’s essentially a celebration of the talent at RBHS and ends up being a very professional production. We have a pit band that plays an introduction, and with each of the acts there are student emcees announcing each performance that actually creates a storyline for the event. This year’s story is really funny, despite how professional it is. It really isn’t your run of the mill show, with just a microphone and an empty stage, where someone shuffles in and sings a song. It’s much more than that.”
Despite being accepted into the performance, many performers rehearse extensively well after auditions. Sophomore Camille Kudrna and her band, the Hawaii Five-Oh, have rehearsed rigorously for the past few weeks in order to impress their peers.
“We’ve practiced quite a bit,” Kudrna said. “Last year we didn’t spend much time in rehearsal, but this year we’ve met pretty much every Wednesday morning for about the past two months, and we’ve added a few more days these past two weeks. I think we’re feeling pretty prepared for this performance, but we’ll see if that’s actually true once we hit the stage.”
Alongside the entertaining aspect of watching a friend sing a song or do a magic trick, Sullivan thinks there is real value to holding an annual performance, in that they have first hand production experience.
“In the simple fact of just having a talent show, and having kids bring forth what they think is worthy of putting on a stage in front of their peers, is pretty cool. The other things that unique and special about Capers is that it’s like a production made by students. It’s all student choice. They pick the music and everything, even the auditions. With little guidance, the students can do almost everything. I think that within itself is a very cool and valuable experience.”
Since Capers’ inception during the late 1970s, RBHS students have loved watching the performances. Student Anna Inslee eagerly plans to go with friends and see the diverse acts put on by her classmates, and encourages others to do the same.
“There are always funny and serious acts, plus the hosts (from last year at least) are really good at making the audience laugh,” Inslee said. “Even if you aren’t into music or magic, which almost everyone is, there are going to be funny acts and moments that make it worth going.”
Kudrna, Inslee and Sullivan all encourage every student to participate in the school tradition and show up at 7 p.m. April 21 in the PAC,.
“It’s going to be a really fun night,” Kudrna said. “The emcees have worked really hard to put together a good theme for this years show, and the actors have also worked really hard to put together performances that are incredible. There’s a wide variety of acts that can appeal to so many different people, and no matter what type of thing someone is into, there’s going to be something they’ll find entertaining.”