I WOKE UP Friday morning before my alarm clock could sound, restless and anxious. I spent the better part of the night tossing and turning endlessly, rehearsing Big Show sketches in my head, scurrying around the set placing props, and yelling mercilessly at my cast members to run over their lines for a final time.

Soon I snapped myself awake, took a couple of deep breaths, and allowed the excitement and anticipation of opening night to overwhelm my anxiety.

I put on a pair of uncomfortably tall heels, slipped on a dark purple dress, and attempted to control my hair to promote Big Show at school. Hopefully my fellow cast members had not forgotten that today was dress-up day and I was not doomed to walk the halls of Uni overdressed and under-rested alone.

To my relief, I spotted my good friends and fellow cast members Andrea Park and Carl Zielinski looking very sharp and excited for Friday night’s opening. Josh Chung took the best-dressed prize when he showed up in a full black suit.

Seeing the cast and crew dressed to the nines throughout the conveniently short half-day amped up my enthusiasm and confidence in this year’s Big Show.

School let out at noon and the cast dispersed, hopefully to sleep for a few hours before we reconvened at the Courier Café for the traditional opening-night cast dinner at 4 p.m.

After consuming more milkshake and burger than I thought humanly possible, it was time to head over to Uni High and prepare for the show.

Once we arrived in the North Attic, there were more than a few things that needed attendance before we could put on a show. We hadn’t seen all of the videos yet and still had to work out some musical issues as well as rehearse a couple scenes for a final time.

The two hours we had before opening at 7 p.m. whizzed by, and sooner than we knew it, the house was open and it was time to trek backstage to the South Attic and mentally prepare for the show.

Luckily, our sponsor, history teacher Chris Butler, came backstage and read a couple of deep thoughts to calm our nerves and focus our minds. He then gave us perhaps the best pep talk ever, and all of my qualms and worries were dispelled. The realization finally dawned on me that Big Show was going to be incredibly raw.

The cast spent the next 20 minutes backstage warming up, which, in Big Show ’08 cast lingo means belting out songs like “See You Again” by Miley Cyrus and “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly.

Co-director Eunice How and I held our breath as we dashed onstage for the intro and were welcomed by the audience with a stream of applause. The show commenced and was received excellently by the audience. Students, parents, and teachers laughed incessantly and applauded our efforts fervently throughout the show.

As I watched the sketches from behind one of the makeshift lime-green flats, I knew the work and sweat we had poured into the show the last four weeks had paid off a thousandfold.

Note: All proceeds from Big Show '08 are for Uni's X-Week charity, Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners.

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