On Jan. 31, Edmond Memorial High School’s fine arts department debuted the 46th annual Follies, an amazing talent show made up entirely of current students at EMHS. A long-held tradition, Follies is a great way for students to become involved at EMHS while displaying eccentric abilities as well as attending and watching peers display their abilities. After seeing Follies three times previously, many people had high expectations for the 2025 Follies, and it certainly did not disappoint.
Act 1 of Follies opened with a fun performance by the EMHS musical theatre performance class, which sang “Magic To Do” while displaying both the skills of the class as a whole and soloists. There were some technical difficulties as the show transitioned to the second performance, “Exile,” performed by freshmen Cooper Hathaway and Isla Steelman; however, these difficulties did not take away from the display of their vocal talents. Their performance specifically displayed the amazing talents of the younger students at Memorial.
I thought the “Oogie Boogie Song” was an odd music choice taken from the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” but it quickly became apparent why it was included in the talent show. Senior Preston Henson had the perfect voice to play Oogie Boogie, displayed by his speech and singing. It was clear that many of the audience members were also not anticipating him to exhibit his agility as he somersaulted and cartwheeled across the stage.
Senior Olivia Hamlin and junior Reese Willming performed “Flower Duet,” an opera piece. I was not expecting an opera performance in this year’s Follies, yet was very impressed by the level of skill and quality of the vocals in the song.
Act 1 closed with a performance by the EMHS Bulldog orchestra, which was one of the best performances of the night. The orchestra performed a cover of the Guns ‘N Roses song, “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which was possibly the best version of the song that I have heard as someone who appreciates orchestral music and classic rock.
Act 2 opened with a performance by Memorial’s show choir, Act II. With a theme of “love” for the 2024-2025 school year, Act II puts on a great annual performance that many people look forward to because of their award-winning performances.
With a focus on string instruments, “Libertango” displayed the amazing talents of senior Greyson Alexander and junior Avery Wiggins. The song allowed Alexander to display his talents as a violinist wonderfully, but it was the cellist, Wiggins, who I could not take my eyes off. She used both her bow and plucked the strings with her fingers, all while looking very focused, yet making it seem so easy.
Another annual tradition that many people look forward to is “Senior Follies.” It provides the seniors who are involved in Follies one last chance to represent the class of 2025 and its talents. They chose a song from “High School Musical,” which was a great way to reminisce on their years in high school. However, I was once again surprised that they chose to perform a vocal music piece, as some seniors are not a part of the vocal music department but still wanted to participate in “Senior Follies,” an act that generally allows for the inclusion of all talents amongst the seniors.
The EMHS varsity pom performed in a small jazz ensemble to a piece titled, “To My Dad.” While the themes from this piece were appreciated by many, it seemed to be an odd arrangement. It included people in the audio talking about their dads, and while this was nice to some extent, at times I felt like it was taking away from the performance itself, specifically losing the beat from the audio that emphasized the pom members’ movements.
Senior David Pehrson sang “Strawberry Moon” solo, and some of Memorial’s band and orchestra members accompanied him. For the past two years, Pehrson has started each school day with announcements over the loudspeaker. This was an amazing way to introduce an entirely different side of him that most people may not think of when they hear his well-known name, although he has been involved in almost every production since his freshman year. His performance was exciting to watch, not only because of his excellent vocals but also because of how passionate he was. Pehrson also shot the audience members winks and smiles, which further displayed his confidence and charismatic personality.
“You Can’t Hurry Love” was the last act of the show, performed by the EMHS Jazz Band. The audience seemed to enjoy this very much, especially appreciating that it was obvious how much fun both the audience and band members were having as they closed out the first night of Follies. I also appreciated their unique outfits as a contribution that was not key to the performance yet added personality.
As is somewhat usual for Follies, it was very heavy on vocal music. Unfortunately, this year’s Follies was especially lacking in skits. However, Act 1 included “16th Birthday Surprise,” a skit performed by seniors Emerson Bayer, Berlin Flurry, Colin Nye, David Pehrson and Cannon Bushman, along with one sophomore, Rami Sawan. Originally a Saturday Night Live sketch, “Motivational Speech” was one of my favorite acts from Follies. Act 2 included “Pretty Girl Curse,” another excellent addition to the show that displayed a comedic clash between a horror movie-type setting and the stereotypes of a “pretty girl.”
Follies 2025 was a huge success, and it was clear that many people thoroughly enjoyed it. Many have grown to have high expectations for the overwhelming amount of talent seen at EMHS, and Follies continues to delight many students, teachers and parents who appreciate the skills found at Memorial and the long-held tradition of allowing students to shine.
Contact Esther Wood at [email protected]
