Last year the Beaverton High School’s performing arts departments gathered together to perform a variety show where students from theater, choir, band, and film can show off their talents. This variety show is called Beaverton High School: Live! (A parody of Saturday Night Live) and it returns to the stage on May 28th at 7:00 PM. From beautiful solo performances, to full on bands and films, BHS: Live! is going to be one heck of a performance.

Theater is, in a way, the center of it all. Many thespians also do other performing arts. Performers in BHS show their theater expertise through scenes and monologues.

Aden Flood, a senior this year, is performing a scene called Unkindness Regards: A Series of Emails with Ethan Berrardinelli. When asked how it feels to perform at BHS: Live! he said, “A little surreal, this is my last performance ever here and also the last performance in this building.”

Aden, who is also a member of the theater and choir, said “I know we had our ‘Last Performances’ of Little Shop of Horrors and our band and choir had their final concerts, which were all beautiful pieces… I think BHS Live is a good way to close it all up, because it’s really just us having fun up there.”

This is an original scene created by the two, when asked how they came up with the idea Aden said, 

“It started with us making fun of how professional and friendly emails can sound when the message is actually brutal. Like, you could get an email that says, ‘Hi there, I’m reaching out to inform you that, although your presence has been a joy to be around, we unfortunately have to let you go from this position due to the fact that you have unfortunately not met the requirements for this job. We appreciate your efforts…’ And it’s like at this point, just say, ‘You’re fired. You suck.’”

• Aden Flood, 2026

Solos and songs are another pillar in performing arts. The theater has musicals, bands can have vocalists, and the choir is all singing. Sage Hoscoe, a junior at BHS and member of the theater and choir, has two singing performances at BHS: Live! “I’m performing Dead Mom from Beetlejuice, and a song called My Clematis from a YouTube web series, which is kind of scary ‘cause it’s in Korean.”

When one performs at BHS: Live! it’s clear some amount of practice is needed, when asked how they practice Sage said: “I spent every Beaverlodge in the practice rooms, making sure I was pronouncing words correctly, and making sure I wasn’t wrecking my voice by belting incorrectly. I also spent a while thinking of choreo ideas ‘cause I didn’t want to just stand on stage.” Sage ended the interview by saying “Meow.” 

A lot of effort is being put into these performances, and for Tyler Jensen it’s a full band in one person. Tyler Jensen, a senior at BHS and member of the choir, is performing Fabel by Gigi Perez on his guitar. When asked how it feels to perform, Tyler said “It’s exciting! Being able to perform with other students who also share such a love for art is beautiful, I’m glad that they give a space for students to share it.”

Tyler thanked the choir director, Ms. Hefty. “She gave me the confidence I have to be able to perform today and gave me courage to use my voice and sing. I’m thankful for her every day, and always will be.”

It’s clear effort goes into the songs and scenes of the performances, but what about the bands? A key part of BHS: Live! are the student-led bands. This year we saw performances from Customer in Training, Sleeperwave, The Shoes, and Bodily Fluids. We were able to get an interview with lead singer of Customer in Training, Olivia Sells.

When asked how it feels to perform, Olivia said, “We like it very much, it’s fun and we get to share our music with people who support us.” When asked what songs they’re performing Olivia said All Apologies by Nirvana along with High and Dry by Radiohead. When inquired how much practice goes into this she admitted they only had one three-hour practice. Finally, when asked if they wanted to thank anyone she said Robert Noelle, for setting up a wonderful practicing atmosphere. 

Seeing all these students perform and put together a show independently is amazing. We got an interview with the band director, Mr. Simentel, to get his perspective on BHS Live! and the students’ projects. When asked how it feels to see his students performing, he said “It’s really exciting. I am involved in a lot of music making and performing arts and that’s fun, but I love to see students do the same thing but without me.” He continued, “It’s great to see students creating and performing and making things happen without teacher oversight, teacher involvement, or teachers sticking their fingers in the mud. Because teachers, as awesome as we are, can be kinda controlling about certain things.” When asked if he thinks the students have put anything he’s taught in the performances, he stated

“I hope so a little bit but at the same time I really hope  that they don’t. I think that the beauty of BHS: Live! Is that it’s removed from academia in a certain sense. It’s not part of a class, it’s not a requirement, kids are just making music because they want to. Humans music and performing because they want to is a really important aspect of human culture and life so I wouldn’t want education or learning to interfere with the act of creating music or performing in general.” 

• Eli Simantel, 2026

Finally, when asked about any performances he’s particularly excited to see, he said the bands Sleeperwave and The Shoes.

What would an event like BHS: Live! be without a great pair of MCs? This year’s MC’s are the juniors Felix Morgan and Ivan Barajas Cervantes. When asked about how it feels to host an event Felix said “I feel honored to be given the opportunity to host. It’s a pretty big event and there’s so much talent.”

Meanwhile, Ivan said “ I think it’s such a cool experience. You know, we’ve only done this, what, now, two times? I just, like, hope to live up to what Sage did last year.”

When asked if it’s nerve wracking, Felix said “Oh, totally, but that’s what makes it fun! at least for me.”

We also asked if it’s more scripted or improvised, he said “I’d say a mix of both. There’s totally parts I’ve written down but there’s also things that kinda I feel will just happen in the heat of the moment.”

When asked for any final thoughts on it all, Ivan said “I just hope we continue this, I guess tradition now, into next year. I just hope everyone does well. I just hope people enjoy it.”

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Axel's Visuals

With all these great songs, scenes, and strings, the students of BHS put a lot of effort into their performances. BHS: Live! is not only a celebration of performing arts, but also of the students who make up those arts. Please come support the performing arts, either by seeing the free BHS: Live! performance or going to a concert, watching a play, buying a Val-O-Gram, or even giving a small “Good Job” to a performer when you see them in the hallway.

We would like to give a special thanks to all the performers at BHS: Live! and an extra special case to our interviewees: Aden Flood, Sage Hoscoe, Tyler Jensen, Olivia Sells, Eli Simantel, Felix Morgan, and Ivan Barajas Cervantes. An extra extra special thank you to Axel’s Visualz for allowing us to use their photos. You can find them on their Instagram (4xel.visualz) or their portfolio Here.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Axel's Visualz