Many students don’t know this, but a schoolwide talent show used to be a yearly Atherton tradition! The talent show was called Vaudeville, and it served as a beloved fundraiser for the senior class. For sixty years, students would gather together to watch their classmates perform a variety of different skills. Without a winner or awards, Vaudeville was an opportunity for students to have fun for the sake of having fun. Unfortunately, after COVID-19 the long-adored tradition was discontinued and faded away into a distant memory.

That is, until last year when the Atherton Functions Club brought it back! For one night, students showed off their many different talents, including playing music, poetry readings, and even a magic show. Last year’s talent show was a great success for the club, and it is returning once again on March 21st.

The Functions Club plans a few different events–such as the game night they hosted earlier this school year–but the club wanted to make sure to host the talent show again. One of the leaders of the Functions club, Arkady Bendl (12), explains why the club decided to bring the tradition back once again.

“We wanted a low commitment opportunity for all students to show their skills and have a good time, and to get people with similar passions together.”

In order to have a talent show, there needs to be acts that perform in it! Any student that is interested in signing up to perform must first join the talent show Google Classroom. Posters have been hung up all around the school with a QR code that will send students to the class, or students can use the class code: khg6bey.

“If you do any kind of performance or have a piece of writing you’d like to show then totally sign up, we would love to have a wide variety!” says Bendl.