Parent Association

PARENT ASSOCIATION

Crossroads Night Live Reprise Goes Virtual

Emily Deschanel ’94 and Zooey Deschanel ’98 kicked off the show with a cold open paying tribute to, and poking fun at, Crossroads’ Council tradition.

NBA great Baron Davis ’97 countered cancel culture with sage advice in “Dr. Davis: Getting Seuss’d.” After more than a year of pain and isolation brought on by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we were all in dire need of something to laugh about. Anticipating this, the Parent Association styled this year’s May 15 financial aid fundraiser as the return of Crossroads Night Live. The first CNL, held at the Skirball Center in 2018, was a sold-out event hosted by Bill Hader and featured other comedy legends and luminary “Saturday Night Live” cast members spanning decades.

Since large gatherings were still not possible in person, CNL 2021 brought the community together virtually for yet another epic evening of comedy and music created by Crossroads, for Crossroads. The show was 90 minutes of nonstop fun and fundraising to benefit the School’s Financial Aid Fund.

This memorable production was made possible by two Crossroads dads and volunteers extraordinaire who generously shared their professional talents: prolific writing genius Demetri Pappas and exceptional editor Brian Pianko. They also co-produced the show with Director of Parent Relations and Special Events Mery Grace Castelo. Event Co-Chairs Marissa Pianko and Samira Poulos and Auction/Raffle Co-Chairs Bhavna de Montebello, Sarah Slome Schwartz and Alan Rakov (who donated livestream services from his company Live From) were seminal to the success of this uniquely Crossroads fundraiser.

Bill Hader sheepishly copped to not getting vaccinated in time to film “The Crossroadians” in person, resulting in a sidesplitting version using Barbie dolls.

Bob Riddle hosted a socially distanced outdoor lunch for the School’s senior administrators, blasting them with an entire buffet’s worth of food and drink launched by an air compressor cannon.

Ed Norton played a no-nonsense “mascot whisperer” auditioning potential new Crossroads mascots.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin performed the brand-new release “Higher Power.”

Jesse Nolan ’01 and Inara George ’92 offered a sweet rendition of the Hall and Oats classic “Sara Smile.”

Bob Saget and James Davis ’01 reprised their synergistic roles on “Weekend Update” with hilarious cameos by Helen Hunt and Dan Cortese. Molly Shannon’s legendary SNL character Sally O’Malley auditioned to be Crossroads new mascot, with a little assist from Steven Weber.

Henry Winkler played a driver and Marcia Gay Harden a detective facing transportation budget cuts in “Law & Uber,” with a special appearance by thirdgrade teacher Ronnie Anderson. Mascot hopeful Robinne Lee cheerfully offered to hand out “emotional participation trophies” to both teams at sporting events.

Parker Bent performed a medley of Crossroads-centric songs, featuring hits like “The Long and Winding Roadmap” and “(I Can’t Get No) Vaccination.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus spoke from the heart about the importance of the Financial Aid Fund in sustaining our economically diverse community.

Surprise guest Sting performed his hit song “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You.”

OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder gave a touching performance of “I Lived.”