Dimond Night Live Returns

Dimond Night Live (DNL) “is like Saturday Night Live, but all about Dimond and other schools. It is a chance for kids who wouldn’t normally be in the other plays to have a chance to be silly and goof off,” Dimond Registrar Carrie Smith said.

Dimond teacher Graham Vaughn said, “DNL is an opportunity to look back at our year and to make fun of ourselves and the people in the school that we love and respect.”

Vaughn chooses to be involved in DNL “because I absolutely enjoy working with all these bright, energetic and funny kids that have a unique perspective on our school that teachers don’t normally have and they make me laugh and laugh.

“All the students do some type of try-out and from the list of people selected to be in skits all the directors sit down and go through the roster,” he said.

Smith said each director picks about 17 students for each group.

“It is kind of like the NFL draft, seniors are picked first,” she said.

Vaughn said they try to get an even number of boys and girls and grade distribution for all different groups. The exception is for the skit called “Weekend Update,” which is restricted to seniors.

Both Vaughn and Smith are directors of different groups.

The directors decide which groups practice when, which really depends on what writing needs to be done and how the performance is coming along, Vaughn said.

Rehearsal is “usually two to three times a week for a couple hours each night,” he said.

For the two weeks leading up to the show, rehearsal is four to five nights a week and Saturday.

The show will be April 11 and 12, Vaughn said.

The revenue from the gate fee for DNL performances goes toward scholarships for the seniors that are involved, Vaughn said.

Smith said during the week of the production “seniors are encouraged to put in applications” for the scholarship. Applicants must submit an essay to apply.

DNL might give $600 to 10 people or $500 to 12 people. Every senior is eligible. Seniors in the production, seniors in the band and seniors who help with lights and sound can apply, she said.

Vaughn said the amount seniors receive depends on the amount that they participated in DNL.

Topics change every year because some things become more important to the school than the others. This year “you can expect to see a lot about the budget and the schedule,” Vaughn said.

Junior Breanna Jingco has been in DNL since her sophomore year.

She said, “It’s really fun and I met other students and teachers that I didn’t know about and now I love them,” she said.

“I suggest that everyone do DNL before they graduate. It really is a lot of fun, you don’t have to be good at anything: acting, dancing, singing, because you will learn and none of us are professionals. We just like to make people laugh and have a good time doing it,” Jingco said.

“I do the dances. They are always such a blast! People audition for the singing parts. I have in the past and have not made it to the stage, but that’s OK. I always strive to do my best and I’m proud of myself no matter what,” Jingco said.

“You can expect to be blown away [watching DNL]. This year everyone is bringing together all our ideas and bringing all that’s new to the table, Jingco said. Expect to see and hear things that have been floating around the school that is most recent, because we make fun of all we can.”