For most people, when thinking of high school students and skits trying intentionally to be funny together, a clash of disaster seems to come to mind.  On April 2^nd, 2014 at 7:00 pm on a cool Wednesday night, this theory was proved completely and utterly incorrect.  The Spring Scenes are an ancient tradition at Pine Crest School where the upperclassmen write and direct skits in which the underclassmen participate.  Combining their creative heads to form a night of great jokes, seniors Blake Hawthorne and Louis Browne, and junior Kyle Israel, became the power trio to bring these scenes back to their original stature.  With the inappropriate nature affiliated with the scenes in years past, the skits were shut down for a while, but this year’s show was hilariously funny and captivating for one whole hour of light-hearted laughs.

Before the show, I got the chance to speak with Louis Browne about the making of the Scenes.  Of the renowned audition process, he states, “basically the seniors are really mean to the lowerclassmen.  It’s hilarious and surprisingly a great bonding experience.”  Although he would not disclose any specific information about the process, the smile in his eyes of what I assume was him reminiscing about the auditions gave him away.  Throughout the duration of the interview, Louis remained professional, calm, and excited.  There was not even a faint glimpse of anxiety hanging in the balance, as he had faith in the actors’ ability to perform.  And his composed attitude served him well because the actors played their parts to a T.

The show lasted about an hour, and for sixty continuous minutes everyone in the audience was drawn to the stage.  The Old ICI became a

quaint little theater for a short period of time where everyone was bonded together by a lighthearted atmosphere.  Some highlights of the show include Matthew Merrigan belting out a rendition of “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen with hysterical words written by Marrisa Hecker.  At one point in the middle of the song, he couldn’t keep a straight face as he pulled his “Elsa” wig off and chuckled for a brief minute.  In addition, Christian Hyatt and Kyle Israel performed a comical parody about a debate for the better script with entertaining banter flying between them in the most natural manner.  The “Hashtag” scene with Arielle Rosenswaig and Matthew Merrigan yet again was uncannily accurate of teens today with their tendency to “hashtag” anything that comes to mind.  A play on an SNL skit about a southern girl bringing her boyfriend home to meet the parents was brought to life Pine Crest style with Henry Vrod and Tara Shulman playing opposite characters, and Phil Swart playing the hilarious and disruptive older brother.  Lastly, a skit directed and written by Blake Hawthorne closed the night with a “how to” skit on picking up girls in high school.  Henry Vrod acting as a mysterious painter to win the ladies was a riot with the audience going crazy.

The 2014 Spring Scenes were tastefully done, appropriate, and hilarious, an impressive combination for industry professionals yet alone high school students.  The talent shown in the Old ICI was palpable, and enlightening to see the creative students at Pine Crest have an outlet to express themselves.  Although the high standards I now have for Spring Scenes will be near impossible to beat, I look forward to next year’s skits, and lots more laughter to follow.