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Theater Department Takes on ThesCon

Our school’s theater department performs at the Stiefel Theater for ThesCon
There were 57 theater students who gathered together at the Missouri Thespian Conference, which was held at the Union Station in St. Louis.
There were 57 theater students who gathered together at the Missouri Thespian Conference, which was held at the Union Station in St. Louis.
Submitted By Melissa Gehrke

Every year our theater department goes to the Missouri Thespian Conference, better known as ThesCon. This is a three-day event which holds activities such as the “Thespy’s”-competitions for specialized interests within the theater program – different workshops, scholarship opportunities, and more. This year it was held on Jan. 9-11.

This year was different, however. On average, around 24 LHS students go to ThesCon. However, this year, 57 students went. This is no coincidence.

Every year three shows are chosen for theatre appreciation, categorized as mainstage shows meaning they will be performed in front of everyone who is at ThesCon. This year students went to Union Station in St. Louis to perform at the Stifel Theater. 

This theater was established in 1934, and has been graced by the presence of Elvis Presley, the only televised performance of the Rat Pack, and countless professional shows.

This year LHS performed “Trap” as the fall play and were picked as one of the three mainstage shows. Because of this, every actor who performed had to go, as well as sounds, lights, set crew heads, etc. 

Students performed in front of 2,600 people at Stifel, compared to their largest audience they’ve ever performed of being 400. Having this be a major difference to them besides just the tech elements they had to deal with.

“I think the biggest issue for the soundboard was that they gave me the wrong model so all the research I did was useless and the people who were supposed to help weren’t there all the time,” Louis Stoyanov (11), the sound crew head for “Trap” said. 

Theater students work on light/sound system night of the main stage performance.
Theater students work on light/sound system night of the main stage performance. (submitted by Matthew Eversole)

Students had three and a half hours to build the set, program lights and sound, and be ready for the audience. This caused massive panic and chaos for the team but they still managed to persevere and put on an amazing show. This wasn’t a first for them though. During rehearsal before the conference, the 14 hours they were supposed to have to rehearse was cut to 2 due to the snow days we had.

Students were working in a brand new space and weren’t given the help they were promised. Stoyanov had to learn a whole new soundboard without the help and yet everyone still managed to put on their whole performance almost flawlessly. 

One of the many accomplishments that the students earned were four Thespy awards. For the first time in Liberty history, they won four Superior Ratings for the Thespy events. 

“I honestly couldn’t believe it,” Duet Acting winner Anna Fleetwood (12) said. “We had just finished performing in front of the conference when I found out we won, so the energy was already crazy, but when we found out we won, everyone exploded into celebration.”

Even with all of the difficulties everyone faced, they still pushed through and didn’t let it affect their performance or attitude.

About the Contributor
Phoenix Egeler
Phoenix Egeler, Assistant Online Editor
Phoenix Egeler is a senior, and the assistant online editor for LHSToday.org who specializes in video editing. They also help with the video editing of the online news class, enjoying the freedom of editing. They will be going to college, undecided, to double major in journalism and criminal justice, hoping to become an investigative journalist. She is in their fourth year of publications, having taken three years of online news. In their free time you can probably find them doing graphic design, video editing, or writing. They are a horror movie fan ranging from “Scream” to “Return of the Living Dead,” as well as a metal music fan.