Bloomington Variety Show a success at Waldron

Belly dancers, magicians, jugglers and musicians gathered Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center for the two-hour Bloomington Variety Show sponsored by the Bloomington Area Arts Council and the Bloomington Musicians and Songwriters Association.\nMaking a comeback due to its popularity in the ’70s, the variety show brought in guests ranging from IU students to Bloomington locals of all ages.\nEveryone was in on the action – even host Kevin Holladay performed magic tricks in between the acts. Producer Marc Haggerty said the show was a collaborative effort to change the way people see art in Bloomington. \n“Most shows are fairly boring now,” Haggerty said. “I wanted to do something that was more entertaining.”\nThe show was interactive, using audience members to help performers on stage.\nThe talent of the performers varied. For 17-year-old Evan Voss, the variety show was his first performance outside of high school talent shows. But for hoop performer and crowd favorite Christopher Lemmon, who is also 17 years old, it was just one of many performances.\n“I have an audition for Cirque du Soleil in early November,” Lemmon said. “So far my career is going pretty well.”\nThe dynamic that this diverse group of performers created was demonstrated in the last song, “I’ll Fly Away,” performed by the singing duo Stella & Jane.. All of the performers and audience members joined the pair during their act. \nHaggerty admitted that the variety show was not easy to pull off. For him, it was well worth the work, he said, because it is important for the community to get involved and support each other. He hopes that variety shows will help the Bloomington community come together to make the town a more art-savvy place.\nSome audience members said they came to see the show out of sheer curiosity about what it had to offer. The performers and sponsors hope to make the variety show an annual event in Bloomington.\n“People are way too focused on TV and things that have no relation to their hometowns and their lives,” said IU senior Justin Pollard. “I think that having a variety show like this is nice because it brings people back to their old communities and back to the people who live around them instead of looking at a box all day.”