I’ve known Lucas Franco since elementary school when we would enthuse about movies and filmmaking while riding the bus on the way to school. He would show me the comedic home movies he and his sister, Eliana Franco, would make on imovie. For a long time I knew he would be a star and this year’s senior show was proof of that. 

As an avid SNL watcher Franco was very excited for the senior show stating, “I had some funny skits in mind and was looking forward to putting them together for everyone to see.” This excitement manifested itself into one of the greatest performances I’ve seen on the LHS stage. 

Franco was in a total of eight different skits playing a multitude of roles. From Avô to Donald Trump to the famous David Pumpkins, Franco embodied each role, stealing the show, and having fun while doing so. 

Franco started the show with a few ensemble roles.

The first skit he appeared in was “Language Classes Have Beef,” a skit where the French and Spanish students fight over which class is better, before the Portuguese song “Laurindinha” plays and the Portuguese students ultimately prove their dominance as the best language class. Franco played one of the Portuguese students who stormed the stage and did great, but the best is yet to come with the upcoming skits.

Franco was also in “Physics Class Dilemma,” where he was one of the discontent students in Mr. Walsh’s physics class, where instead of teaching he runs around, talks about running, and enthuses about track. While his role was minor, Franco proved he is a team player.

The next role Franco played was “Avô” in the “Portuguese Bachelor” skit. He was dressed in a full-on old Portuguese man get-up, with a silver wig and mustache, one of those old-Portuguese man hats, a flannel, jeans, and a broom. His character was trying to set his son up with one of the bachelorettes, just for his son to end up with the one woman who knows him best: his mother. This skit was one of the many hilarious skits involving Portuguese culture that Franco absolutely rocked.

The first skit that Franco starred in was “Nemeth’s Replacement,” where he blew away the audience with his spot-on Trump impression. He debated Elon Musk, played by Lucas Costa, to replace Mrs. Nemeth as LHS’s principal. Using all of Trump’s lingo, mannerisms, and speaking in Trump’s accent, Franco solidified the Trump impression perfectly, making the most accurate one I’ve ever heard. 

It was apparent from his impression that he had worked hard on perfecting it, including little bits and pieces of Trump’s persona that I hadn’t even noticed he did, until Franco impersonated them. He states that, “Watching the news and seeing how Trump talks and moves” helped form his impression. “It wasn’t until later last year, my friends helped me realize that I was actually decent,” Franco continues. 

“I’ve always liked doing impressions,” Franco remarks, “Since 2016, I’ve been hearing the famous Trump impression, whether it was from Alec Baldwin, Shane Gillis, or James Austin.” 

True to the theme of this year’s senior show, Franco and his two scene partners, Lucas Costa and Dominic Fialho, performed an homage to the movie Forrest Gump entitled, “Life is like a…” Franco played clumsy prop coordinator, Jimmy, who gave Fialho, playing Tom

Hanks, boxes full with different random and ridiculous items. Eventually they got to the famous box of chocolates and the skit commenced. 

Franco’s next starring role was in the “Woodman Monologues,” as Mr. Woodman. He started off camouflaged, in many plants; he himself wearing a plant on top of his head. Hilariously, Franco would stroll away from teaching, into the spotlight, and recite some random and off-topic story. This skit, while specific to Mr. Woodman, was hilarious even for those who haven’t had him as a teacher. This skit was extremely creative and felt like something that would be on SNL. 

Franco’s role as Trump returns again in the “Battle of the Kens” skit. This skit had many different caricatures of guys, fighting over Barbie, like in the Barbie movie. This skit, of course, featured Franco’s perfected and hilarious

impersonation. This time, Trump jumped on top of the “athletic” Ken while they fought, something I’m sure the actual Trump could not manage. 

The final skit Franco was in was “Haunted at LHS,” a fan favorite skit featuring David Pumpkins, one of the most memorable characters from the senior show. I initially was unaware of the David Pumpkins lore, so I asked David Pumpkins himself. Franco said “David Pumpkins is originally an SNL character played by Tom Hanks. I saw the skit online and thought it would be funny to do it during senior show.” 

Franco drew inspiration from this skit and added on to it by “adding in ‘spooky’ teachers to give it more of a ‘school vibe.’” Initially Franco and others were unsure about how the skit would be received, but when he was performing it “We heard many laughs among others. That’s when we knew that David Pumpkins would work.”

Just how David Pumpkins was a fan favorite, it was also Franco’s favorite to perform stating, “The mysteriousness behind David Pumpkins and his ridiculous dances made playing him so much fun. It was awesome to see how many people enjoyed the character.” 

Many students had lots to say about Franco’s excellent performance.

Faith Keroack, a senior show watcher who really enjoyed Francos performance, said “He was the glue that held the production together.” Her brother, Joe Keroack, who performed in the senior show alongside Franco, said “Lucas has been practicing his Trump accent since the beginning of the year. I’m so proud that someone as kind and funny as Lucas is willing to call me his friend.” Almost everyone who attended the senior show had something positive to say about Francos performance, raving about his impersonation or laughing about David Pumpkins.

With the homage to an SNL skit and his clear talent and love for comedy, I was curious to see what Franco’s favorite SNL skit and cast member were. Like the true fan he is, Franco chose “‘Van down by the River’ with Chris Farley,” stating that it “never fails to make me laugh.” His favorite cast member of all time, while an almost impossible question, is Will Ferrel. However, he states that, “If you ask me my current favorite cast member, it’s either Keenan Thompson or Marcello Hernandez.”

While undecided as of yet, Franco plans to attend a four-year college next year. And with his talent, I know he will succeed in whatever he pursues.