Woodbridge High School - Valhalla Yearbook (Woodbridge, VA)

Page 25 text:

A Little Bit of Everything What’s a May Fiesta? Well — it’s an assort¬ ment of song, dance, and fun. It’s a spectrum of choral sounds and styles,” said director Mr. John Hayward. One major theme is given to the Fiesta each year. The themes differ from year to year, thus giving the Fiesta an added sparkle of variety. Traditions are fast becoming an important part of each show. Among these traditions are the one scene done by children of the elementary and middle school age, and the Grande Finale, in which The Old Routine” and Bye Neighbor” are done by the entire choral department and fea¬ A little imagination. Russ Jones, Bev Hughes, Wade Peed, and John Manderfield play imaginary instruments to the song, 1 am a Fine Musician.” Small numbers such as this one were used as interludes between the larger choral produc¬ tions. tures a men’s kickline. Practices began in March. Since the Fiesta is not a play, but a show presented by the members of the choral department, there is no real casting to be done except for the choosing of who will sing the solos. This spotlight is usually reserved for the seniors. Practices were held after school and no later than nine o’clock p.m., and never, never on weekends. This was made possible because much of the work could be done while school was in session. Often times practices were frustrating and bewildering,” commented Mr. Hayward, until you saw that it all fell together.” The complete show, from start to finish, is just a shaky possibility and an attractive dream until about two weeks before opening night. It is then that the whole thing comes together and is first seen by anyone. In previous practices all that was done was to work on bits and pieces of the show. At any time, if you had walked into a reh earsal, you would have found many things going on at once. Highlights were hard to pinpoint since there was such a vast array of them. The favorites seemed to be the number A Salute to the Armed Services,” a duet sung by Brendan Sheehan and Sheri Stanley called I Remember it Well,” and the Grande Finale! The May Fiesta” is for everyone; it leaves you with a great feeling of happiness. When it all came to a close, instead of just being members of the choral department, the participants became one big family. What started as just an idea on paper, became a reality and a tradition within the choral department and the school. Student Life

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Remember. 1 ' Sheri Stanley and Brendan Sheeban sing I Remember it Well,” which was one of the many favorites from the show. Sheri and Brendan both had major parts in many of the school productions. Goodbye, My Baby. Mike Wilson, as Ali Hakim bids farewell to his friends in the scene A Time For Remember¬ ing,” from the production of Oklahoma. The scenes are taken from that year’s musical and performed again in the Fiesta. A litle song and dance, Lisa Wennesheimer sings the song Friendship. This number was done by the Woodbridge Women ' s Choir. What a trio! Russ Jones, Chuck Roe, and David Covert, of the Woodbridge Singers, perform a rendition of Old Mother Hubbard.” It was a comic takeoff on Handelian music. 20 Student Life

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A VALHALLA REVIEW OF THE 70’S The last seconds still remained and the mood was exuberant. We were moving forward about to relinquish our hold on the 70’s and enter into a new decade — the 80’s. The clock struck twelve. 1979 was over and the time seemed appropriate to reflect on the fads, the news events, the stars and the tragedies of the 70’s. Of the newsmaking events, the one that stood out most was without a doubt Watergate. For the first time in the minds of many Americans, government was proved fallible and the pedestal on which it stood crumbled. In 1978, a horrible event took place which placed new criticisms and scrutiny on religious cults or communes. It was senseless suicide of Fads during the 70’s changed with a fervor unequaled in other decades, but reminiscent of the 50’s as they were meant to be purely — FUN! close to a thousand members of a commune called Jonestown in Guyana, South America. These events had a tremendous effect on the attitudes of people throughout the country, but fads were probably the most significant aspect of the 70’s to us as teenagers. It seemed that every other month someone had come up with an idea which was sweeping the country and making millions. Pet rocks made great gifts and came complete with training manuals. The in” drink was Per¬ rier (mineral water), and everybody who was anybody had blow dried, hot combed or permed hair. Fashion trends changed as rapidly and more drastically than ever before. We were hit with minis, maxis and menacing platforms. Slit skirts, stiletto heels and designer jeans also took us by storm in seventy-nine. Then there was disco. It went beyond the ordi¬ nary fad for it became an all-encompassing term which typified the frivolity of the era. Starting out as just a class of music — disco soon went on to describing people, places, clothing, jewelry as well as a thing to do and a place to go. Through the 70’s we survived. Life was fairly easy for the average American, with a standard of living unequaled in most other nations. We became concerned over dwindling energy sup¬ plies, but idolized movie, sports and political stars as much as we always had. As we look toward the 80’s, the future, it is difficult to pre¬ dict what might happen, but the hope is that peace and happiness will prevail. 22 Student Life