Produced by senior Brian Miller and junior Christian Lei and hosted by social studies teacher Viviana Montoya-Hernandez, the student-run SNL consisted of exactly two-and-a-half hours of short skits. Though both amateurs and veterans of acting were performing, everything went smoothly, with almost no falters and much laughter from the audience.
"Couple’s Therapy," directed by senior Nima Khalily, centered on a couple—Bagdana and Brian, played by seniors Harsha Gorti and Bryan Nguyen—seeking to recover their relationship with the help of a marriage counselor (sophomore Rachel Beck). The plot revolved around Brian wanting to have a good relationship with an eccentric Bagdana, who he feels should “open up a little.” As the plot progresses, Brian goes on to talk about how their love for each other seems to have disappeared after their wedding night.
“No, no, I gave it on wedding night,” Bagdana said—with a heavy Indian accent—when asked about the love in her relationship. “Documents and photos from it.”
Even with over 80 cast members, the largest cast to appear in a drama production at MVHS, this year’s SNL was performed almost flawlessly on stage. Behind the scenes, however, much improvisation was needed because with the large number of actors, slip-ups were to be expected. But despite the great challenge posed by this, the drama team was still able to make the show run spectacularly on stage.
“The biggest thing that was chaotic was really the set changes going from one scene to another,” Miller said, “because there was a lot of stuff, like furniture and stuff, that had to be moved off and on the stage.”
After the conclusion of the seventh skit, The Roxbury Guys, the musical group Stifled performed two songs live onstage, one of which was their original creation. This was followed by a short intermission, where members of the audience could chat with some of the actors, or buy snacks outside before returning to the auditorium to view the second half of the performance.
“You’re making me angsty,” Banner said to The Joker, who accused his movie of “stinking.” “You won’t like him when he’s angsty!” A roar of laughter from the audience followed.
With the conclusion of the final parody, "Celebrity Jeopardy," directed by senior Mandy Watson, all actors from all skits appeared onstage to take a bow, which concluded the show.
“Thanks for coming,” Montoya-Hernandez said at the conclusion of the performance. “Have a good night.”
