Imagine watching a show where a few students are performing the song “Like a Rolling Stone” by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
Now imagine a large group of students storming that scene from backstage and breaking out into exuberant dancing, which serves both as a way to involve every performer in the number and as the big finale to the show.
This unabashed joy is the essence of “NO SHAME,” a roughly once-a-month variety show put on by students from the Performing Institute of Minnesota Arts High School (PiM Arts) in Eden Prairie. The tuition-free public charter school specializes in arts education for grades nine through 12.
Performers are invited to show any piece they have been working on, whether it falls under their primary field of study or not. A painter can dance, a dancer can sing, and a singer can do stand-up comedy – all while sharing something they are passionate about with, as the show name suggests, no shame.
The first “NO SHAME” of the year is Friday and will feature 15 to 20 acts, according to Rob Thompson, director of communications and development at PiM Arts. Along with the accompanying band and the run crew, about 35 students are involved in the production.
Deemed the “art school equivalent of a Friday night football game” by Thompson, “NO SHAME” is an opportunity for any student to perform anything they want, so long as it is practically performance-ready by the time auditions roll around and the act is approved by an arts teacher and an academic teacher.
“‘NO SHAME’ is probably the most supportive environment for performance that we have in the building because it is sort of open mic and variety show-like, and it’s a little more relaxed and everybody wants everybody to succeed,” Thompson said.
Despite the show’s quick turnaround, “NO SHAME” is not as stressful as a traditional production.
Jules Huffman-Annett, a senior at PiM Arts, is managing the run crew for the show and has been involved with the crew for every installment of “NO SHAME” since his sophomore year. Huffman-Annett said the one and only technical rehearsal happens the day of the show at 3 p.m. and runs for a few hours before the actual production starts at 7 p.m.
“It’s a pretty relaxed environment typically because (there is) ‘NO SHAME’ as the title says,” Huffman-Annett said. “It can be a little stressful, especially if you’re, like, new to doing it, but it is very rewarding.”
On top of live performances, “NO SHAME” also features a coinciding gallery, Thompson said. Similar to the actual show, anyone can submit any piece of artwork to the gallery, which is displayed the week of “NO SHAME” and the week after.
Sadie Maguire, a senior at PiM Arts who is co-hosting “NO SHAME” this month, said the show is an opportunity for students to get more chances to perform without the typical, larger time commitment that a standard play or musical demands.
Maguire, who has been involved in every “NO SHAME” since their freshman year and normally writes and performs their own original songs, added that one of their favorite aspects of the production is the level of support that performers get from their fellow students. They said it is common for students to stay at the PiM Arts building from the last class bell until 7 p.m. just because they want to see the performance.
“People will spend like, you know, four hours or whatever, just waiting because they’re excited to go to this event, and I just think it’s like, pretty indicative of what ‘NO SHAME’ is and how people feel about it and they’re just, like, there to support people,” Maguire said.
Axel Whittey, another senior at PiM Arts who plays in the show’s accompanying band, said this support and the structure of “NO SHAME” make it very personal to the performer. While there is less pressure due to the nature of the show, Whittey said there is a heightened sense of vulnerability that comes with performing (or as Thompson likes to say, “sharing”) something you might not be completely comfortable with yet.
“(Performers are) presenting something that they want to present, rather than something that they think would look good,” Whittey said. “I think that there’s really something to that as an artist, and that’s probably the thing that gets to me the most is, like, just how there’s something beautiful about something not being all the way prepared, not being perfect.”
This month’s “NO SHAME” live performance is at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, at PiM Arts, 7255 Flying Cloud Drive, with the gallery open for another week afterward. Tickets are $5 at the door.
