On Feb. 8, under the bright lights of the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, 68,000 fans watched Bad Bunny take the stage. Latin music echoed. Dancers moved in unison. And, just feet away, stood Cherry Hill High School East alum Andrew Athias (‘11), dressed from head to toe as a bush.
For the two weeks prior, Athias had rehearsed with 500 other performers to become part of the background — a decision meant to help hold the visual together, given the limited number of wheels allowed on the field. But unlike the headliner, of whom he had been a fan since 2022, Athias knew his role in the performance.
For Athias, appearing on one of the biggest stages in the U.S. was a culmination of efforts. 15 years ago, Athias spent his four years at East as a track athlete and a D-Winger — a theater kid, band student, and choir member of Casual Harmony, East’s former all-male a capella group. His time in high school not only allowed him to explore his interest in performance but also to bring an invaluable energy to the East choral community.
“We used to call him the Energizer Bunny,” said Laurie Lausi, one of East’s choral music teachers for 29 years, who, even years later, still keeps in touch with her student through Facebook. “He has such a way of brightening your day, because he’s just an authentically beautiful person inside or out.”
Even after graduation, Athias’s passion for performing would follow; he joined the Eight Beat Measure, the all-male a capella group of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
“I always go back to my roots of being a singer in Cherry Hill that made me want to be a performer,” said Athias. “That, again, is just part of the steps in the road that led me to being comfortable being a grass bush in the Super Bowl.”
In fact, Athias had been selected for the role partly because of his experience at East. Having found the field-casting application online after seeing it discussed in a social media video, Athias applied in October. From a pool of 40,000 applicants nationwide, there were only a few checkboxes to cross off.
“It just asked if I was between 5′ 7” and 6′ 0, if I was athletic, and if I had marching band experience,” said Athias. “There was no audition, no video that I had to submit, no proof that I’m Bad Bunny’s fan.”
On Jan. 22, Athias received his confirmation call and flew to Silicon Valley, CA — just miles from where the actual Super Bowl would be held — for a two-week rehearsal. There, he would grow accustomed to obscurities: signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement, practicing with Bad Bunny’s temporary stand-in, “Good Rabbit,” and standing next to the pink casita in front of which several celebrities would later appear — unbeknownst to him until hours after the performance. Yet, in the process, he had met a community of those just as enthusiastic as himself, despite their background role.
“You couldn’t have picked a more excited group of people because we understood how ridiculous this was,” Athias said. “The group of us really leaned into the ridiculousness, and sometimes, it’s just fun to be around a whole new group of people doing new stuff.”
Even weeks later, Athias still reminisces about the community of performers he had met and the value of being part of such an important collective effort.
“If you take away anything from this Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime show, other than that the music is incredible, it’s that when people come together and put their differences aside, beautiful things can happen,” said Athias. “That’s the honesty, the beauty, of America.”
On a stage meant for celebrities, Athias wasn’t meant to be seen. But as Latin music coursed through the stadium and hundreds of performers moved unitedly under one shared light, Athias stood not just as the background, but as a part of something bigger than himself.
