The beginning of the school year is officially passing us by, and it wouldn’t be complete without its traditional characteristics ~ constant groaning for having to wake up early, late night studying followed by three cups of coffee the next morning, crispy evenings and Friday night lights, hot cocoa and a powder puff game, and of course – Montage.

The annual student-led variety show is unique to AAHS; centered around a new theme each year, innovative skits, creative dances, and impressive musical numbers are only a few of the excerpts attendees can expect to see. For the 2015-2016 school year, the Kadet community was in store for a theme that stole the thunder from others in the past: The Heist. But like any good robbery, the production took planning… and then more planning.

For those Kadets that weren’t able to attend this year’s show, an array of talent was showcased from speed painting Pink Panther portraits to high-energy dance numbers such as the advanced hip hop piece to the song How Deep Is Your Love, by Calvin Harris & Disciples. Additional highlights of this year’s production included life lessons with Spiderman (just don’t litter, okay?), multiple appearances by Beyoncé (in song at least), and countless featured puns (because who needs to be an undercover cop when you can be a farmer with undercover crops, am I right?). Many classic songs were also featured to go along with this year’s theme; just a few of the tunes that stood out included Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked, by Cage the Elephant, Take the Money and Run, by the Steve Miller Band, and Smooth Criminal, by Michael Jackson.

From joke telling to juggling to acrobatics and everything in between, Montage has seen it all and is always looking for new faces to join in on the fun. In fact, one of the greatest things about Montage is the close friendships established from working in such a fun and energetic environment, no matter whether the cast members are freshmen or seniors. Just as senior Emily Olson, one of the vocal directors said, “We had a lot of young talent audition, so it’s exciting to see how great they’ve made Montage this year and how great they’ll make Montage in the future.”

Each year, Mrs. Manst and Ms. Cassano, the staff supervisors for the show, begin the process of selecting 14 upperclassmen to become student directors and do exactly what it sounds like–direct. The pairs of individuals get creative control in categories including vocal, instrumental, dance, tech, publicity, and link (or new students). Throughout the summer, the pairs work as a cohesive team to develop a theme that will not only be engaging for audiences to watch, but also entertaining for participants. Beginning on the first day of the school year, over 100 Kadets venture to the auditorium after school each day to take part in this Air Academy tradition. But here’s the catch–the entire show has to be built from scratch in just 4 short weeks. The rushed nature of the show is what makes it, well, truly a Montage of skits and songs!

The directors prepare mass skits, dances, and musical numbers for all cast members, but participants also have the opportunity to audition their own talents to be in the show as well. In a process called Screens & Cuts, directors gather to watch all potential acts in the show, created up until about three-fourths of the way through the rehearsal schedule; directors then have the difficult decision of choosing which acts should be put through to make the final cut for that year’s production–a grueling process that takes hours to debate and finalize.

Luckily, the process for the directors was easier than normal with such a diverse theme this year. With the general subject being “the Heist,” cast members had the freedom to play around with different interpretations of the topic such as stealing, spying, playing cops and cowboys, and exercising other criminal activity. Other themes in the past, like 90’s and Egatnom (Montage backwards), were more difficult to encompass the diversity that a Montage show wants and needs to be successful.

So do YOU like to make new friends? Sing? Dance? Act? Play an instrument? Tech from behind the scenes? Have a hidden talent that you’ve actually always wanted to show off to the world? Have absolutely no talent at all? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Montage is the place for you! And hey: maybe next year, you’ll just be the one to steal the show.

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