Seniors Eliana Mitchell, Max Bleich and Jess Angel are this year’s directors of White and Gold, the annual variety show and one of our most popular school traditions.

“I’ve been in White & Gold since freshman year, and it’s always been a really fun and cool process, so I wanted to be a part of making the show, and making the big decisions.”  said Mitchell. “I tried out for assistant director, and now I’m a director.”

Max Bleich knew he wanted to be a director for White & Gold ever since he worked on the tech crew in 2011.

“Being director means complete power and control, and being the psychopath that I am, I enjoy that,” said Bleich.

Bleich worked as an assistant director before becoming a director. He is also head of the tech crew.

Intervention specialist Michele Toomey became an adviser for White & Gold in order to get to know students that she doesn’t normally get to see on a daily basis.

“As an intervention specialist, I see a limited population of students,” Toomey said. “So I was looking to kind of broaden my interaction in the building.”

White & Gold allows students to showcase their talents. The acts usually involve singing, comedy, dancing, speeches or instrumental music.

“It means a lot to me because a lot of traditions have faded, but White & Gold is something we get to do every year.  It’s just really fun, and it’s something that everyone in the city really looks forward to,” said Mitchell.

“I see it as a way to really showcase talents that kids have that don’t get recognized in a school setting all the time,” said Toomey. “We always recognize the sports kids, and we tend to recognize the really smart…kids. But sometimes you just have a hobby that you’re good at and you want to share it, and I think it’s a cool venue for doing that.”

“When you talk about times when being in high school sucks, having something like White & Gold really gives everyone a time to appreciate each other,” Bleich said. “You get to see your peers up on stage and showing off something you would probably never know was possible from them. That is an amazing thing. White & Gold is the only BHS tradition that I know is able to do something to that effect. No White & Gold means no BHS, if you ask me.”

White and Gold will take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, April 10th, 11th, and 12th this year.  The show is traditionally set in the high school auditorium, but due to construction this year, it will take place in the middle school auditorium.

According to Mitchell, ”It’s tough because it’s smaller, the stage is smaller, the audience is smaller, the lights are different, but I think we’ll pull through.”

Students who wish to perform in the show have to audition, so every once in a while, some disgruntled students who were not chosen to perform may feel that favoritism is at play.

“They’re wrong,” says Mitchell. “White and Gold is actually a lot of work, and we don’t just put people that we like, we put people that we think can do the job, and make a good performance.”

“The beauty of having three directors, five assistant directors, and three advisers is that we have many different viewpoints on a single act,” Bleich said. “We all watch the acts, jot down notes, and then discuss the acts afterwards…to narrow them down. You can never be totally unbiased, but I think we do a good job of keeping things as fair as can be.”

Mitchell talked about her experiences with White & Gold. ”I’ve only had good experiences. It’s stressful sometimes because it’s a lot of work, but in the end it’s all fun, and you get to be with your friends. It’s cool just to be able to make the show happen.”

This year the directors are looking for something a little different in their acts for the show.

”This year we’re trying to have more variety in our acts, not just singing and dancing. We want to get something a little more interesting,” Mitchell said.

“We’re looking to put kind of a different twist on it,” Toomey said. “We have a lot of guitar singers this year, more than I think we’ve had in the last few years, so we’re trying to put some other twists in it that will keep people engaged.”

“In recent years, the comic aspect of the show has been eliminated.” Bleich said. “I really want to change that for W&G 2014. White & Gold is a variety show. When all we have is musical acts, there’s not much variety there. This school is full of great talent, and I’m really excited to see what people bring to the table come auditions.”

Eliana Mitchell commented on their goals so far for the show. “We definitely want more people to come, always.”

“We’re just hoping to get the show off the ground. The date has been changed multiple times, and the venue was changed, so we’re a little discombobulated,” Toomey said.

“I think my biggest goal this year is for White & Gold to be the best yet,” said Bleich. “The last few years since I have been in tech have been incredible, but I think we can do even better. We are working on a set design that we think will absolutely amaze the audiences this year, and I can’t wait until April 10th swings around.”