Studio II students brought their original TV parodies to life on January 21 through an entirely student-run theatre production in the Little Theater as their class final.

Breaking from tradition, the show’s theme was “Stuck in the TV” rather than the past “Studio Night Live,” an SNL parody show. With 12 original skits and videos, the Studio II students poked fun at shows like Grey’s Anatomy as well as typical television advertisements.

Cherry Hill East theatre and film teacher Mr. Peter Gambino acknowledged the extra challenges these students faced, considering their production was entirely new and original to their class.

“[The class] didn’t want to be seen as, ‘well, we’re just doing another episode of SNL that the seniors already did.’ They wanted their own thing, and I respect that deeply,” Gambino said, adding that he tries to encourage creativity in his classroom and foster the sense of community that makes this show and so many others possible.

Co-managers Addison Geisler (‘27) and Lola Garcia (‘27) shared their own excitement about the show and how their classmates play into that.

“Everyone has different talents to bring to the table, and it’s really nice to be able to feature that,” said Geisler. Many of the Studio II students have taken theatre classes together since their freshman year, which has only strengthened their bond.

Student Madison Shepard (‘27) echoed Geisler’s sentiment, adding that the class feels like a family.

“We all feel comfortable with each other doing these crazy things on stage,” said Shepard, explaining how necessary that connection and trust are while working on their more comedic scenes.

In some aspects, though, the creative element of this show has been a trade-off.

“It’s a lot of freedom, but at the same time it’s a lot of pressure,” said Geisler, with Garcia voicing similar feelings.

Beyond the Studio II show, many students are also members of East’s larger theatre productions.

“We have to balance our schoolwork, our theatre, and then also [the Studio II show] because this is a class…We may be tired, but we’re going to do the best we can, even when it’s tech week or the audition season is coming up,” said Shepard.

For the co-managers, the Studio II Show was even more taxing. Managing 48 roles, numerous props, and keeping everyone on schedule was a heavy workload. Regardless, Geisler and Garcia were eager to bring this show to the East audience.

“It’s a different type of joy than just being on the stage, like, knowing that you created this from the pitches and the ideas, the scripts, and then actually being in it,” said Garcia, reflecting on her experience in theatre and the culmination of those skills in the Studio II show.

For Garcia, who has been in theatre productions since she was eight years old, and Geisler, who was inspired to join the theatre department after seeing an East production, managing this production was a special project.

“You’ve just been working so hard doing scene projects every year, and it’s like this final, big hurrah, like ‘oh, we did it!’” said Shepard, recalling her own time in East’s theatre department.

Although the show is a class final, it was a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The show brought everyone together for a fun night of theater open for everyone to see–free of charge–but family, friends, and alumni are the most common faces in the crowd.

“I know that everyone [enjoyed] it, so I think that energy coming off of the audience [helped] us be like, ‘we don’t have to be that stressed because we’re all here to just have a good time,’” said Shepard. When Shepard went to see the show herself last year, she said she was laughing and crying while watching her friends’ performances.

“We do a lot of making sure [students] feel welcome and valued, and then they come back because they want to see how the program is now that they’re gone. They have fond memories of it, and they come back, and they see their friends perform,” said Gambino.

While this year’s Studio II class may have a new theme, they were proud to have filled almost every seat with their class final performance this year.