BIG SHOW DIRECTORS seniors Anna Cangellaris and Eunice How look onto the stage holding their breath.

It's Thursday night, and this skit hasn’t worked at all in the past two weeks of rehearsal. Wednesday night’s tech rehearsal did not prove to be any different.

But tonight is dress rehearsal — everything should run as smoothly and perfectly as possible. The lights go on, and the actors are in place. Thank goodness, at least one thing went right.

The first line came, and for the first time Anna didn’t have to scream, “LOUDER!”

OK, so we had gotten that down. But what about the rest of it?

The skit went on, and both actors were not fumbling on their student-written witticisms. Phew.

But Anna and Eunice were still skeptical. Anything could go wrong: poor use of props, a messed-up line, or screwy blocking.

Comedy is all about timing, and at this point the skit’s success was not a promise.

However, as the skit approached its finish, the whole Big Show cast came to a realization. The skit wasn’t going to suck after all. Anna and Eunice were not going to have to cut it from the show. For the first time, it was actually funny!

At the end of Act I all the actors, dressed in the customary jeans and black T-shirt combination, rushed from backstage to hear what the directors, and history teacher Chris Butler, Big Show supervisor, thought.

“That was astounding,” said Butler.

This was the first time Butler ever complimented us. For the three previous weeks he had stayed in the background not paying much attention to the show. In fact, he explicitly told us to never ask him how he thought the show was going because he was afraid to give his blunt opinions.

The cast, in unison, gave a big sigh. Throughout the writing and rehearsing process, everyone was stressing whether or not this or that actor could pull off a certain part, or if the skit was even funny in the first place.

But it was confirmed — Big Show will be a big success!

Big Show '08: Cast and Crew

• Directors
  Anna Cangellaris
  Eunice How
• Contributing Writers
  Paul Dampier
  Jake Seeley
• Cast Members
  Josh Chung, senior
  Will Erickson, subfreshman
  Anna Gooler, sophomore
  Julian Hartman, senior
  Hannah Leskosky, junior
  Alan Liang, junior
  Grant Loos, senior
  Andrea Park, senior
  Adam Tiouririne, junior
  Richard Weisbach, junior
  Carl Zielinski, senior
• Lights
  Natsuki Nakamura
• Tech Crew
  Sindha Agha
  Stephanie Overmier
  Aramael Pena-Alcantara
  Lauren Piester
• Live Music
  Josh Chung
  Julian Hartman
  Grant Loos
  Carl Zielinski

Big Show '08: Sketches

• Part I
  Deep Thought
  Pardon my French
  Burger Burger Burger
  This is Self-Referential
  FBI
  Montana
  Anyang Earbuds
  Distracted Job Interview
  Man vs. Wild
  Buy You Drink
  Condensed Harry Potter
  Shower
  The World According to Science: Mating the Grade
  TREATED
  Very Sad
  MTV Music Video World Premiere
  Elevator Safety
  Rock Band

10-minute intermission

• Part II
  Deep Thought
  Prom Narrator
  America’s Next Top Model
  Art Nouveau
  Phone Deletion
  Overused Phrases
  Platypus
  Everything Else
  Your Sister’s Hot
  E’Twaun
  The Great Debate
  The Fabulous Life
  Fitness
  Mary & Ed
  Rock Band II