Daily Campfire Reviews

Daily Campfire Reviews is an website independently run by Danonn Mwangi and Colton Fieger for the review and critique of the many different theater productions and other events put on by Blue Valley High School.

Something Rotten

November 27th, 2025

It has come to my attention that my previous review has upset some feelings. For those who were unhappy, here is my review: Something Rotten was incredible, lovely, flawless, the best show ever!

Now for those of you adult enough to actually handle criticism, here is the actual review:

For starters, this was Dollins’ first attempt at comedy, and some actors were able to excel. Others… were in the show. 

Unsurprisingly, the cast was extremely imbalanced between the division of guys and girls, as Dollins returned to a show that he did not have the cast for.

What made this imbalance worse was Dollins’ decision to only cast a handful of selected students in the cast to play all of the small open roles, and push the remainder of the cast into the back row. Part of what gave a show like Newsies heart was that pretty much everyone got a part in the world. In Something Rotten, we got Mason White as Peter Quince, and Mason White as Frances Bacon, and Mason White as Master of Justice, as well as Anna Schumacher as Puritan Woman, and Anna Schumacher as Psychic Woman, and Anna Schumacher as Featured Dancer.

The ensemble was… certainly an ensemble. For the majority of loud male singers to be cast as leads, the other male singers must step up and sing out. This did not happen. When you don’t have Apolo Harkleroad singing, you must compensate, but they didn’t. Dollins should personally throw Mason White a thank you party immediately for being the only audible guy in the ensemble at any moment in the entire show. As a show that is filled to the brim with huge ensemble numbers, this definitely dragged down the energy.

The choreography wasn’t bad, but it was predictable. A couple girls tap dance. Addy Day does a flip. And Taylor Fincher is the best dancer in the show, shocking nobody. What wasn’t predictable was the physical ability of the Andrews. I was not expecting Mazzapica to be that good at a heel click. And I’m sure no one expected Monahan to somehow be the best tap dancer in the cast.

Something Rotten had my favorite set that I have seen at a Blue Valley musical. to my knowledge it was designed by Sagie Snir, so compliments to him. It felt like looking into a story book. As the technical aspects of theatre have never been my focus, I have very little else to say.

The band played. Well? Ish? Maybe they were better the other nights? But the mistakes are always easier to notice than the successes. Especially when the mistakes include the butchering “A Musical”, which is objectively one of the best numbers of the show.

The barbershop section of “To Thine Own Self”… happened. And I feel like that’s all I need to say about that.

Now on to the performances.

Joshua Dyches always excels in a comedic role. Unfortunately for the audience, his lines remained difficult to understand. I have one word of advice: articulate. For anyone who ever has a line in any show, please remember to speak slowly and clearly enough for the audience to know what you say.

Andrew Mazzapica was put in a difficult spot being cast as shylock, and I think he played it as inoffensively as one can when performing a role that was written solely to be a Jewish stereotype. He did a good job with comedic delivery and showing age through performance, as expected by a seasoned actor. What was unexpected was his dancing ability for someone so out of his element. My only note, similar to Dyches, is articulation as sometimes the age overpowered the clarity of the lines.

Taryn Dale, as always, sounded great. Unfortunately, the performance felt like a step down from her role as a Fate last year due to the limited acting opportunity and depth of the Minstrel. Dale was also responsible for my favorite individual joke of the entire show, which was her dancing on the floor after fainting during “Will Power”. 

John Samuelson did a very good job holding his own against a leading cast full of much more experienced actors, though could use another lesson in character. Samuelson seems to have a good understanding of comedic delivery and timing. He had many of my favorite lines in the show, even though McNally practically gutted the role of Brother Jeremiah. 

Chacey Dollins had an extreme switch up in tone of roles from last year to this year, being one of the roles with the most comedic abilities to shine. Almost all of the musical references landed, and she was a highlight in the omelette sequence. While I still prefer Dollins’ dramatic performance ability, Nostradamus was a major step forward for her as a performer.

April Smith deserves a standing ovation for their performance as Nigel. I knew that Smith could sing, but I never realized how melodic their voice was. While I may not know all the technical aspects of what makes a good singing performance, I do know what sounds good, and there is no doubt in my mind that Smith sounded very, very good. Their acting was also done well, making an overall relatively bland character, compared to the others in the show, one of many highlights.

Now despite all the good performances, there were only four great enough to be considered for best performer.

Monahan killed. I think in general I am very picky when it comes to comedy, and many aspects of a performance can cause me to lose interest. Despite my pickiness, I can't find a single bad thing to critique about his acting performance. The singing is a different story. Monahan is not a singer. He is an actor first. That much is evident. And it is made more clear when in contrast to the extreme musical talent of many of the leads. Trust that I know how annoying it is for a song to be ever so slightly out of your range. However, this is the first performance I have seen in a musical that I can fully say that I believe the acting of a performer was so good that I truly didn’t care what the songs sounded like, as I was still enthralled. On top of that, I was blown away by the physical comedy of the stark differences between William Shakespeare and Toby Belch, as well as the shock factor of his, once again, incredible tap dancing. This confidently is my favorite Monahan performance yet.

Next on the list is Dannon Mwangi as Bea. It's no wonder that her solo managed to get the loudest applause at both performances I attended. Knowing that the opt up was first decided during the dress rehearsals just goes to show how incredibly talented of a singer she is. She is also one of the most experienced comedic actors in the entire cast, which truly shines through in each of her parts sprinkled throughout the show. These little sprinkles of Mwangi's character repeatedly reminded me of how funny she can be and how much I wish she could’ve been in the show more. I struggle to find a single negative thing about her performance, as she knocked it out of the park from singing, to acting, to delivery, to physical comedy, to just about every other noticeable aspect of the show. In any other show this would’ve been more than enough to solidify Mwangi as best performer. Unfortunately for her, this was not any other show.

Apolo. Freaking. Harkleroad. Hello? I’ll admit that Harkleroad was the one and only part of the Friday Night Live review that I may have been too harsh on. And his performance in Something Rotten is precisely why. Because his performance in FNL was fine. His performance in Something Rotten was enough reason to see the show more than once. Take every positive note I gave Monahan and Mwangi and cross apply them to Harkleroad. This blew every other performance Harkleroad has ever given out of the water ten fold. While there were minor hiccups in performances, Harkleroad was able to improvise and work around them. The only note I can muster to think of was that his tap dancing was lack-luster, though that could just be because it is surprisingly hard to keep up with Monahan's secret tap dancing skill. That being said, there was one performance that ever so slightly eeked its way in front of all the rest. and where’s the fun in giving the best performance to the lead?

LILY BOYLE?!? Lily Boyle. Where did Lily Boyle come from? I have never seen Boyle perform, nor did I have any expectations for what her performance would entail like I did for the rest of this cast. It is a daunting task to be the only underclassman with an actual role (no, one-liners don’t count), and Boyle did more than just rise to the task. She demolished it. I’m running out of words, as I'm looking through my pocket thesaurus, to emphasize how much I loved Boyle's performance. Dare I say perfect? a perfect performance from Boyle. She was captivating and filled to the brim with charm each moment in which she was on stage. Though she never tried to steal the show. That, I believe, is the main reason I prefer her for best performer, as she knew which moments were and were not hers to have. While the other leads all managed to steal the show from each other at various moments throughout the performance, Boyle functioned as a consistent anchor, making her performance a standout in a show packed to the brim with standouts.

I really enjoyed Something Rotten, at least when I went to the evening performance. While it’s hard to compare to any other show, as it is the first musical I've watched at Blue Valley, it was definitely captivating for everyone in the audience. I’ve been told that even STUCO stayed and watched the second act, which is not an easy thing to get them to do. I always love a good musical. and until next time, theatres are a scourge upon our land. I saw it myself and it stiffened my… resolve. 

Written by Colton Fieger

Friday Night Live 

September 26th, 2025

Friday Night Live 25 took the typical format and made it bigger. Double the cast from double the class, as well as the… interesting choice of having six different hosts. Not everything worked, but the parts that did absolutely knocked it out of the park. As this is my first time writing for Daily Campfire Reviews, I want to make one thing clear: I doubt I will live up to the absolute sass of prime David Edwards, but I won’t be as nice as Amelia, Brooke, and Danonn were last year. 

Now I know you are all here for the sketch ranking, but first I have a few general notes.

The musical guest, as always, was a highlight and a nice break between sketches. Unfortunately, music is not my forte, so I have no notes. I hear nice sounds and I enjoy.

A major issue I had with this FNL was the casting. It felt like I hardly got to see anybody. I understand that with both classes working on the show together, the number of sketches each individual actor could be in was far more limited than previous FNL’s, but that has several drawbacks. For me, it makes my job of choosing the best performer much more difficult. For members of the department, it makes voting for both of the FNL-related Keaton Awards much more unfair. And for the cast, they get much less stage time. 

Beyond that, it seems that Yarnell has done away with his rule that if you write a sketch, you get to cast yourself in it. Even after the show ended, I was left contemplating why Apolo Harkleroad was the lead in Brett Jones’ sketch and Brett Jones was the lead in Apolo Harkleroad’s sketch. Why? They were literally still in the sketches they wrote, just as side characters. So why couldn’t they cast themselves as the lead?

Another question I was left with was where is Zovanie? Medina has not been in very many shows, but after last year’s Check Please, I was excited to see him, among other juniors’, in their first FNL. My issue with Medina’s casting was that he was in the show, and in the same number of sketches as most other cast members, but he did not have a single line. He ran across the stage twice and danced. FNL is the easiest show to manage giving everybody relatively similar-sized parts, yet he was given no lines. It almost feels like intentional exclusion on the director’s behalf.

While talking about unfair casting, I have to mention the hosts. First hour’s cast of hosts was stacked over seventh. Having Dollins, Thompson, and Dolezal allowed first hour’s sketches to get as big as they could with experienced hosts willing to do anything, while seventh hour’s hosts had to play smaller roles and maintained a level of awkward nervousness in their stage presence and delivery. 

Now that I have voiced my casting disagreements, I present, without any further ado, the official FNL Sketch Ranking.

14. Ew Valley Rules by Mia Mondry and Savannah Yeggy

I love a parody… most of the time. Sometimes, failure is funny. This is not one of those times. Starting with the lyrics, at least the ones I could understand, I didn’t fully get them. Kids in cages with no meals? I may not go to BVHS anymore but I doubt anyone is locked in cages. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear most of the lyrics from my distant seat in the fourth row, so I can’t comment on the rhyme scheme, or many other lines. Moving on to the performance, it felt like I was watching a group of first graders performing in their elementary school musical. In a cast of so many talented singers, directed by Dannon Mwangi, how could the singing be so lack-luster? The dancing, especially that of Taylor Fincher, was impressive. Unfortunately, much like failure, impressing is also not funny. I will admit, I did find one part of the sketch to be amusing, and that was Mia Mondry as Mrs. McNally. That being said, a cardboard cutout of her face is not enough to save a dying sketch. The sketch also made the fatal mistake of playing the original “Pink Pony Club” afterwards, reminding me what actual good singing sounds like and making me detest the sketch more. To anyone who remembers Hannah Gold’s Bald and Beautiful sketch and didn’t enjoy it, I dare you to watch this. At least Gold’s had some razzle dazzle. I will look back on it in a fonder light after seeing the abysmal mumbling of ten teenage girls and one science teacher.

13. Fonts Personified by Kylie Shafer

This sketch created a high level of confusion for me. Fonts being characters as a concept was fun. In practice, less so. Every time a character entered, was introduced, or referenced, I had to look back at the screen for clarification as to what the font was because I, like most of you, don’t have every font’s appearance memorized. I also didn’t know definitively what font Andrew Monahan was playing until Indie Flower’s entrance. I assumed he was playing the awkward dorkiness associated with Comic Sans rather than the basicness of Ariel. Odds are, there was a line stating who he played but if so I must’ve missed it due to the fact that almost all of the voices were done in a manner that was near impossible to understand when accompanied by the mic. For future reference, loud doesn’t make the line funny. It just hurts my ears. In terms of character, I think most of the cast did a good job of embodying their font, even if I did have to repeatedly check what it looked like. My personal favorite was Kemper Komm’s performance as Rochester. Overall, this sketch was a decent idea with little possibility of translating to the stage.

12. Twisters by Brett Jones

This was another odd one to me. I didn’t understand the motivation behind the sketch. At first I thought the wordplay was decent with “twister” referring to the game rather than the natural disaster. But then Twizzlers got involved for some reason. The plot relied on the belief that random equates to funny, which is rarely true, and much was left unexplained. As for the performances, Apolo Harkleroad needs to learn that saying random parts of a line in a weird voice is not the pinnacle of comedy, nor does it make the written text any funnier. Caleigh Scott, though a minor role of a twister, stood out due to her reactions. Harkleroad’s physical comedy also stood out and was one of the redeeming aspects of this sketch. Overall, the sketch wasn’t that bad, but it was odd.

11. LInstagram LReels by Jenna Jones and Michael Muller

This was by far the most referential sketch of the show. It brought reference after reference. Some made sense. Some didn’t. Ultimately many felt random and unconnected. The reasoning behind this could be up for speculation, but my working theory is that many jokes were either thrown away due to the writing or undeveloped due to the direction. The performances, however, were all relatively strong. Parker Savage did well saving himself when the button sound effect wouldn’t play. The ending worked well with the two couples running off together. Personally, I was partial to the performance of Mrs. Thompson.

10. Samson Bullionben by Andrew Monahan

I don’t get it. Am I missing something? This sketch felt like many of the jokes were written under the false belief that cringe equates to funny. Monahan did bring a lot of character for the sketch, and I will admit that some did get me. I do, however, hope he knows that a magistrate is a legal profession and not a wizard Mark Zuckerberg, nor does it have anything to do with magic. I also like Henry Fritz’s performance in various roles, but the one that stood out to me the most was Jimmy Fallon in his state of shock. I’m sorry if I’m missing something but I did not get this sketch. It felt very Monahan.

9. Inner Workings of Johnny Depp by Taylor Fincher

This sketch did feel kind of random, but I feel like it works for reasons that Twisters may have failed. This sketch allowed for far more exaggerated circumstances surrounding the odd and eccentric characters played by Johnny Depp. It also did well at lending itself to referencing the movies of said characters. One of the highlights for me was the oompa loompa song. It was short and sweet allowing for a greater payoff. It also was my second favorite parody of the show. Among the cast of wild characters was Fincher as Depp himself, which gave us the first of many girls with goatees spread throughout the show. While everyone did well as their character, the best in this sketch also happens to be the winner of the competition, Andrew Mazzapica as Jack Sparrow. He did exceptionally well embodying the physicality required of his role.

8. Tell Me He Likes Me by Drake Weiner and Joshua Dyches

This sketch was cute. Honestly, it felt like the most FNL any sketch has felt in a while. The casting for this sketch was absolutely perfect. Lila Schlagel and Fincher were fantastic as the odd, ditzy girls, combining a humorous level of delusion and an understandable level of reality. Mazzapica did well as the straight character, which continues to be a strength of his. Henry, despite being in the sketch for a short period, did well at landing the joke and subverting expectations at the end of the sketch. The review of this sketch would be amiss if I failed to mention Rameen Zaidi’s performance as yet another girl with a mascara goatee. In my opinion, the best in this sketch is a close call between Fincher and Schlagel. Ultimately, Fincher is funny, she just needs to work on delivering her jokes loud enough for the audience to hear, a problem Schlagel did not have.

7. TeamU by Mia Mondry

TeamU definitely toed the line between humorous and uncomfortable, however, I think the majority of the sketch lands on the funny side due to the witty deliveries from Mondry, Schlagel, and Brooke Lovell. The child laborers really sold that they were sweat shop workers. Komm’s voice of the little girl was startlingly realistic, and if this show has taught me one thing about her it is her range. This sketch could’ve very easily been extremely awkward to watch as an audience member, but Mondry did well at avoiding any area that was too touchy with a level of exaggeration, such as Drake Weiner’s “mandatory naps”.

6. Lost in the Woods by Brynn Hannah

I enjoyed Lost in the Woods more than I expected. The dynamic between Yuna Kim, Brynn Hannah, and Brett Jones started the sketch out strong. The dryness of Kim mixed with the exaggeration of Hannah, Jones, and later Emma Sykora allowed for a quick and comedic build up of characters and relations before the actual plot unfolded. The eventual entry of Scott as the killer absolutely sent me. Whether it was the physicality, the costume with the white boots, or beating Sykora with a pineapple, she brought so much energy to the role and remained one of the highlights of the show for me.

5. Weeknight Update by Henry Fritz, and Mia Mondry, with additional material by Tylar Beck, Isabelle Liekhus, and Andrew Mazzapica

Weeknight Update was… good? Interesting would be a better word. Fritz and Mondry started and maintained a good level of energy throughout. Many of the jokes worked well, though some did not. My main issue with the jokes was how they were dispersed. It definitely felt like the strongest jokes were in the beginning and the ending got whatever jokes were left. The “straight man” desk pieces did not work for me. They both had their moments, such as the cops’ childish issues or the weatherman’s dry delivery. However, the comedy with the desk pieces comes from how outrageous the characters can be and how the interview can be justified. I appreciated the raining men joke, but what I didn’t appreciate was Harkleroad’s flubbed delivery of the lyrics as I respect the Weather Girls. Overall, Weeknight Update was funny, but due to my disagreement with the desk pieces, I can’t justify ranking it any higher than fifth.

4. Back in My Day by Jerry Atrix

I enjoyed Back in My Day. I think it may be one of my favorite Yarnell sketches. I feel like the pun of Phil en de Blanc High School went entirely underappreciated. All of the hosts brought their A-game for this sketch, especially Dollins and Thompson. There were several funny bits. Dollins playing football. Dolezal dancing. Also, a sexuality joke? By Yarnell? He knows lesbians exist? I am shocked, but not disappointed. This was a good sketch, but as it was not written by students, nor was it performed by students, it will not make the top three.

3. C.I.A. by Apolo Harkleroad and Sagie Snir

C.I.A. was a very intelligently written sketch. I always enjoy wordplay, and it brought me back to seeing “Who’s on First” for the first time ever. This sketch did a much better job than Fonts Personified at making it clear who played what through the use of the letters on the hats. This clarity was very much appreciated during the intense and somewhat confusing puns. The line “Ok, I see why you are” remains one of the most clever jokes in the show, and one of my personal favorites. I did not understand the Perry the Platypus joke at the end. I understand he’s called “Agent P”, I just don’t understand what it had to do with the rest of the sketch. As for performances, I know that Agent R was southern, but the other accents confused me as they fluctuated between British, Australian, and bad. My main wish for this sketch was that everything happened just half a beat faster to keep up the pace and build up the jokes to maximize their payoff. It’s hard to pick a favorite performance in this sketch so congratulations to everyone for being equally adequate in the scene.

2. Performance Art by Will Fraser

Performance Art was a very strong opener. Will Fraser lived up to his roles in all ways except height. The standoff and fight between Fraser’s performative male, Isabelle Liekhus’ ultra performative male, and Eli Herridge’s ultimate life form was a fun way to start the show. Lily Boyle did a great job as the grounded Starbucks worker in juxtaposition with the other three’s extremities. I loved the idea of watching performative males as a nature documentary almost as much as I loved the editorializing of the five-year-old boy sitting next to me.

1. The First FNL Sketch by Isabelle Liekhus

We all knew this was coming. What a way to finish an FNL. I may not have seen every FNL ever, but dare I say best closer yet? Yes. I dare. From start to finish the energy was great, and the writing was hilarious. There was some stumbling with lines in the introduction, but it is clear that that interaction was only a tool to move into the song. Dollins started the parody off louder and clearer than the entirety of the cast of Ew Valley Rules. Liekhus’ performance as Yarnell was nothing short of incredible. The singing and dancing almost felt like watching a cartoonified version of Yarnell. This sketch was explosive. The dance breaks were a blast. And it was so fun getting to have everyone in the show come out at the end. I wish more people could’ve been involved throughout, but it was a perfect segway into the curtain call. This was by far the best parody I have seen in an FNL. There is a clear reason why it got a standing ovation before the sketch even officially ended. Herridge, Scott and even Thompson came close due to their incredible performances, but it’d be a crime if I didn't give Liekhus best performer as well, especially since she was our final girl with a goatee. THAT is how you close an FNL. 

It has been another star-lit, won’t quit, big hit FNL. No matter how you feel about the show, there really is nothing as amazing as an FNL. I loved getting to come back to see the show, and making my review debut. And until next time, not all parodies are created equal.

Written by Colton Fieger

Illegally Blonde 

September 11th, 2025

Illegally Blonde was definitely an experience. I mean, very pitchy middle schoolers doing a production of Legally Blonde, what were they thinking? And Saleswoman #2 was totally off tempo… Oh, what's that? You don't want to hear my opinion about those terrible old Legally Blonde bootlegs circulating around the internet, but instead about 6th hour's amazing rep show? Understandable. 

Illegally Blonde was an exceptional improv show, not far from the likes of StageWorkx or even Fifth Wall. This show has some capital P PACE with 12 games squeezed in just under an hour and a half. Fifth Wall, take notes. (Just kidding, Andrew! Please don't kick me off the team.)

Beastie Rap (with a twist)

First up was the iconic Beastie Rap, but with a Camp Style twist. In case you weren't aware, during this most recent summertime, we started playing Beastie Rap a little differently. When one person is out of rhymes, anyone can jump in, making it a free-for-all. Safe to say the team absolutely crushed it. The energy was electric across the board, and the rhymes were sharp and quick. I was a little disappointed to see a strong rhymer like Kyle Monahan get "Jeff" cutting the round a little short, but if I've learned anything from Improv with a lot of different crowds, sometimes you gotta roll with the punches. Nothing you can do. Overall, great first game! Finding anything to rhyme with Keating is a marvel to me, so well done.

Letter Rip 

I just want to say I have NEVER had the delight of playing Letter Rip with a water gun because the Seniors, my Sophomore year in Fifth Wall, despised it, so we only played it once, and I am deeply envious because of how fun you guys made it look. It was so funny when the letter was changed to "A" and Kyle almost immediately said it. I wish the scene had gone somewhere plot-wise. I know Letter Rip is really hard, but the scene could be extremely stagnant at times. Overall, the scene was super solid, nevertheless.

Trail Mix

If I'm being super honest, this is not my favorite game. It was a popular warm-up in middle school improv, and it more often than not feels flat compared to more linear, story-based improv games. The team made this game a little less evil to me in my heart of hearts. All the new voices were fun and original, and we, in general, strayed from opposites. I heard a bit of rejection in this game, which is bound to happen in a newer squad. It also went a little long, but props to Mi-Ling Riley for creating that button. I'm proud of you, girl.

Press Conference 

I don't know why I was compelled to say whooping cough. Maybe it was an ad I saw or something cosmic, but the result was incredible. Sarah Gold flexed her extensive Improv knowledge with her creative answers, and Annika Kutter killed it, going two for two on some of the hardest things we've ever forced improvisers to guess at this school. Xavier Edwards' German dog question was a hilariously smart clue, and overall, the questions from the reporters in this game were on point. 

Living Scenery 

Holy SHOW, this game was a riot. I have never seen this game played before, but two actors act out a normal scene, and the rest are the objects they encounter. This game was great at showing the cast's comfortability with each other, which is one of the things that specifically stood out to me about this show. Despite working together as a class for a short three or four weeks, they were immediately working in sync to make each item work, truly fulfilling the potential of the game. Never have I ever seen a scene devolve into chaos so rapidly that even the most critical audience cannot deliver it, but I was proven wrong.

Two-line Vocabulary 

WOW! What a knockout of a game! Another brand new title where two of the scene partners have only two lines to say, and a person in the middle tries to explain something to them. Samantha Thalblum, destroyed with her character and showcased her amazing natural comedic timing and strong characters. Annika Kutter used her two lines with a lot of situational intelligence, which elevated the game as a whole. Finally, Ben Morris was the glue that formed this scene into most likely my favorite game of the night. Genuine frustration makes genuine comedy.

Naive Replay

Anyone who saw last year's Long Form Improv show knows I love a good Monologue, and apparently so does Mi-Ling Riley. I thought it was so impressive that everyone remembered their scene they made up at the top of their head well enough to do it four times through verbatim. I thought the game was a bit drawn out with four entrances, plus it was built in to repeat the same jokes. It occasionally felt like a slow Half-Time, but the team made it worth it in the end. I loved Caleb's idea to bring in SHOW alumni Aidan Cornwell, and they added A LOT to keep this scene interesting in its last stretch. They did their best with a kinda dark prompt, and I appreciate that.

Blindfolded Scene 

This was definitely a fun idea. I'm almost positive it is Yarnell's brainchild because it sounds like something Yarnell would make us do in the Beginning Acting. I hate "What color is ____ subject?" conversations because they feel very much like NPC dialogue but it gets a reaction out of almost anyone so I get it. The scene felt very Yarnell propelled and controlled, not like that's negative or anything, but it's kinda more fun when things come about naturally. Xavier's performance instinct kept moving him further and further downstage until he almost fell off multiple times, and Kyle actually did fall off. The game excelled when it emphasized the comedy of not being able to see where each character is, like with the high-five near the end. If more of those aspects were included, this game would have been more of a heavy hitter. 

Radio 

Radio is an underrated crowd pleaser, which sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true, I swear. I only ever see this game once every Camp Moon, and it's a doozy. Ava Olney killed it with the 80s suggestion, and Annika Kutter was singing them high notes! I see you girl, get yourself in choir. Caleb did really well with his difficult suggestion. I don't know why people are so afraid of singing! This game was great.

Actors Nightmare 

I'm usually all in for this game, but with the addition of two-line vocabulary, it felt a little redundant. Not to say the cast of it was anything to sneeze at; Ava Olney and Ben Morris picked really clever parts of the script to keep the story moving. Shout out to Ben specifically because not a lot of the kids in Advanced Rep know him super well, but when I was talking to people after the show, his name came up again and again as an outstanding performance. Kyle Monahan led with some crazy choices as always, and his justification for the crazy things coming from his scene partners helped it flow better. I would have liked a little more acceptance when Kyle established he had the A.I. in his brain, and as a next step, not starting the scene using the suggestion as the opening line, because it made the setting and characters kinda unclear. I'm also not a fan of exorcism but to each their own.

Stunt Double

What's not to love about this game? Micah Shaw is crushing it with his mocking director character, Caleb Pfaff had so so so many interesting character choices throughout this scene, and Samantha Thalbum ties it all together with her explosive physicality as the cherry on top. This game would be close to perfect if the pace was kept just a little tighter and some of the fun character voices didn't decrease in volume so the whole audience can hear.

Final Freeze

I don't have a whole lot to say about Final Freeze since it's over the show, so it's essentially a recap of everything I already said, but I needed a segment on everything to have this review feel complete. Nice cartwheel, Norah, and beautiful singing voice, Xavier. Full marks from me.

There is an ongoing dilemma I've been seeing, and since this is the first review a lot of you are actually going to read, I might as well air that grievance here. Nobody is doing lighting at the shows Michael is not a part of. Seriously, guys, not a single person wants to take on the torch and become Michael's protégé? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN HE GRADUATES!?! But on a serious note, Yuna Kang's pictures would look way cooler with actual lighting instead of classroom fluorescents, don't you think? I'm begging you guys, somebody has to learn tech. The department is basically run by three people; somebody let Michael, Sagie, and Jenna go home! I'm sure their families miss them.

Now that I'm off that soap box, I'm sure many of you are wondering about my favorite performances.

Caleb Pfaff, one of the few sophomore improvors on the Fifthwall team, rose to the occasion with impeccable style. It takes absolute commitment to throw yourself on the floor, and Caleb Pfaff is committed. I quite enjoyed his clear and clean pantomime throughout the show and his quick, witty quips. John Mulvey would be very proud.

Annika Kutter had such a great night as someone I know a bit less than the majority of the team. She was on it with her guesses, and her sunshine-y personality translated to a fantastic stage presence, plus legend has it she can do a mean lay-up. Funny and multi-talented.

Xavier Edwards, you might not be a nepo baby, but your talent shines all by itself. Every moment he was featured in the show, the audience was left roaring with laughter, and the Zebra bit in Radio was one of the big highlights of the show for me personally. Keep up with that unique sense of humour because I feel like it's gonna take you far.

Now you might be saying: "Danonn, those are three astounding performers, who else could possibly be left for best performance?" And I would say, "If you held your horses for five seconds, you would already know who it is."

Best Performance goes to…

Norah Cornwell! It was a really tough pick, but in the end, you can't beat her absolutely STELLAR physicality. There wasn't one moment where a scene was static if she was in it, and her overwhelming amount of energy brought the show to life. Congratulations, Norah, you earned it!

So that about wraps up my feelings on Illegally Blonde. It was a fast-paced evening full of laughter, and it honestly made me feel jealous that my class didn't get to do a show like this our sophomore year. Not late for the first review of the year because I'm a cool, calm, and collected senior now. Stay jealous, Juniors. Don't forget, with a little bit of Chris Rock and a whole lot of "Look out! I think Motto Motto likes you~", you too can have a deep-cut Madagascar reference. KA-CHOW! 

P.S. Here's a link to what I was talking about in the beginning, if you haven't seen this iconic clip: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6wFAp1J/ 

Written by Dannon Mwangi

This review was a finished draft at 12:02 AM. My circadian rhythm lives in fear of me.