Change is coming to annual junior show
Until this year Junior Spectacular was a four act show featuring acts written and performed by juniors.
December 2, 2021
This year the Junior Spectacular event will be replaced with a new type of event, the Junior Spectacular Showcase. The Junior Spectacular Showcase will be a talent show-like event to display the talents and abilities of North Central’s junior class.
For about 50 years, North Central has given juniors the opportunity to write and perform their own plays in the Junior Spectacular. It is used as a fundraiser to reduce the cost of tickets for prom. Historically, groups would perform “cuts,” or small segments of their play, around Thanksgiving time. The top four best “cuts” would advance to perform the entire play the following January.
Junior Spectacular, often abbreviated as Junior Spec, allows students to perform something spectacular for the public to see. “We were trying to keep that [spectacular] somewhere in the title. They’re showcasing how spectacular they are,” art teacher Vicki Ayres said. The showcase will only be replacing Junior Spec this year, or until the auditorium is finished and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Typically, Junior Spec would be performed in the auditorium. The ongoing construction in the auditorium is one of the reasons Junior Spectacular will not be taking place this year. Last year, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Junior Spectacular Showcase will be held in the Northview Middle School auditorium on January 23.
The showcase will be formatted as a talent show with acts being three to five minutes long.
“Imagine ‘America’s Got Talent’; any kind of talent that somebody wants to get up and showcase, they’re allowed to,” Ayres said. Ayres is one of the lead organizers of the event. The junior class officers, theater tech, Ayers and administration work together to approve and organize the event.
Auditions can be submitted via QR code signs throughout the school advertising the showcase. Scanning the code opens a submission link for the audition video. Based upon how many auditions are submitted, the top auditions, filling no more than two hour time slot, will be picked.
