Winter break is over and the show must go on. Mrs. Willis has been named Liberty’s theater director and is currently preparing students for the next play.

The next chapter of theater arts at Liberty has inspired many drama students.

“Mrs. Willis is a very determined teacher, she has goals set for the future of the LHS thespians and I can’t wait to see where she takes us,” sophomore Zoe Killingsworth said.

With second semester here, students have began to work on the next play.

Liberty’s play for second semester is a comedy called “You Can’t Beat the House”, written by Pat Cook. The play is scheduled to be performed the week after spring break. The 10 roles consist of six woman and four men. Tryouts for the play will be held on Jan. 18th through the 20th.

“This whole show is this comedy about these burglars, and nothing is going right for them,”  Mrs. Willis said. “The two main characters actually remind me of the burglars from Home Alone.”

Liberty’s previous plays have been held in the cafeteria. The new auditorium will be a great addition to Liberty’s theater program.

Construction of Liberty’s new auditorium has been in action and will be finished around the month of April. Students will not be able to use the theater this year, but will be able to use it the first day back after summer break.

“I’m so excited for it to open at the end of April and I wish we had it now,” Mrs. Willis said. “I’m excited to have a brand new theater that no one’s ever been in before.”

The auditorium will be a great addition to Liberty. Our theater program will benefit from the auditorium immensely.

“With the auditorium being built, I’m ecstatic for the upcoming shows of my junior and senior year,” Killingsworth said.

Before taking over the theater department, Mrs. Willis was the administrative assistant to the director of technology, so she is familiar with Liberty and some of the students.

“Mrs. Willis is a very nice and sweet teacher with a lot of passion behind the lessons she teaches,” senior Dakota Barnett said.

For education, Mrs. Willis attended the University of Missouri-Columbia and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in theater arts performance.

Mrs. Willis first studied music education while she was interested in theater,

“I quickly changed direction when I found out that I had to know how to play piano, I’m a singer,” Mrs. Willis said. “So I ended up changing to theater performance because I was also an actor and I found my way back into education.”

Liberty’s theater program will continue to grow from Mrs. Willis’ guidance and a brand new theater. The next play has the resources to be the best at Liberty so far.