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Joy Night is an impressive display of the diverse and exceptional talents of Lincoln High Students. “The show is theirs (emcees), it is completely under their control,” said Andrew Bargen, an organizer of the event. It is a special evening where we get to come together and appreciate the creativity and hard work of our fellow students. Organized by our social studies department (Mr. Bargen, Ms. Herting, Mr, Turley, and Ms. Saathoff), the show features a wide range of acts from singers, musicians, comedians, and more. 

Hours before opening night I spoke to Mr. Bargen, as well as Ms. Herting, and Mr. Turley to gain further insight into what goes into Joy Night. I was surprised to hear that two weeks ago this show didn’t exist. “We do this show in ten days, from scratch, no scripts or anything” said Bargen, and when asked about what it takes to do something like that in such little time he replied “Dedication.”, citing that even on their day off, everyone came into school to work on Joy Night and make it better. 

I asked what kind of nerves it takes to perform on opening night to which Ms. Herting gave me some insight: “It’s nerve wracking, but I feel that this year is a little different in the sense that last year was the first Joy Night since the pandemic, and not a lot of people really knew what it was or how it was supposed to be.” It was made apparent that this year’s Joy Night has found their footing compared to last year and that they’re excited for opening night.

Last night’s performances were preceded by a gripping short film, created by talented emcees (Henry Alvarez, Cate Frederick, Jude Kroeze, Eli Martin, Collin Nick, Winter Porto, Raquey Robertson, Marlana Saalfeld, and Harrison Yost) in which the audience was briefed on the story behind “The Last Joy Night”. The jokes worked perfectly in cooperation with the comedic editing style which left the audience howling. The film ended and the emcees introduced themselves before seamlessly transitioning to the first act: Lincoln High’s own Philharmonic. 

The Philharmonic started the show with just the right boost of energy as the audience was enchanted by a tuneful instrumental presentation. They were followed by Jocelyn Tisdale who astonished spectators with a melodious vocal performance, in which her clear, powerful voice would garner an impressive ovation from the crowd. Another notable vocal performance was Jena Forlemu, who performed acapella using her dulcet vocals to sooth all in attendance.

The music continued with a Lincoln High twist on a classic pop hit. The Brass Links Quintet, joined by the iconic Despicable Me super villain, Vector, brought the excitement with their own rendition of an iconic 80s hit, not yet to be revealed to the public. Yesterday’s first act also saw performances from our LHS Show Choir as well as our Jazz Band who kept the audience moving in their seats to groovy performances complete with entertaining dance moves and impressive instrumental solos. Speaking of impressive solos, Lily Li’s performance was a highlight of yesterday’s performance as he flawlessly executed Cello Suite No. 1, a complicated piece by famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and the best part is there wasn’t a single scrap of sheet music in sight!

The second act featured impressive band performances from “It’s Not Me, It’s You”, LHS Jazz band, and returning favorites, “Solid Gold Fury”, a teacher band made up of our very own LHS staff. All of these acts are returning for tonight’s final recital, and you don’t want to miss them. Other returning acts include the fun teacher-student duet consisting of Abigail Praznik-Lodge along with Mr. Goodbrake, as well as a heart wrenching original song from Israel Chiwisa, a memorable moment from yesterday’s performance. 

Tonight brings a whole new batch of talented acts, and tweets, that you won’t want to miss. Yesterday’s tweets, written by students, brought about a swarm of laughter at the expense of the teachers, and tonight’s show features all new roasts! Solid Gold Fury will be returning for another night as well, possibly their last. 

There’s rumors that Joy Night will never be the same after this year. So get there while you can!