The lights dim in a filled Clarence Johnson Auditorium. Sheets that stretch out into the audience are projected with a water graphic and the stage looks like a beach with a sand bucket and a small lawn chair. A spectator comes out from the audience takes the lawn chair off the stage and puts it on the floor. The show starts.

The 2016 Homecoming Variety Show took place on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. There were 32 acts in total at the beach party themed show. The master of ceremonies was sophomore Matt Troher who came out in between the acts to introduce them and tell jokes.

“Exhilarating is a word that comes to mind when describing the show. Towards the beginning I felt nervous, but it gets easier as the night goes on,” Troher said.

Several acts played, ranging from bands, vocalists, and dancers, to a video from Cable 99.

20 of the acts featured in the show were vocalists. Many of the performances had students covering songs by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Elton John.

Junior Sarah Durbin sang an original song entitled “Don’t Forget”. Many students played and had other people play instruments while they performed. Morgan McLean performed “Your Song” by Elton John with a pianist. Emma Nykiel played the ukulele while singing “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival with Billy Berberich.

Brendan Quealy used the house band to add musical accompaniment to his performance of “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John.

Five student bands also took part in the show. Three of the bands performed original songs including Fluctuation performing “2-5-0”, Zach Steele with Madhatters performing Steele’s song “I Don’t Know”, and Twoscrews performing “Original”. Two of the bands performed song covers: the Madhatters with “Say It Ain’t So” and Clear Confusion performing “All These Things”.

“The show was a lot of fun. It was cool to collaborate with another student on a song,” said freshman John Werthman, lead singer of the Madhatters.

The DGN Athenas danced a routine to remixed versions of Pat Benatar songs. The DGN Chamber Choir came out with a cover of Beatles’ song “Here Comes the Sun”.

“It was fun to interact with the audience. Just feels great to do what you love.” said freshman Billy Berberich, lead singer of Fluctuation.