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Beau Leavenworth, sophomore, played Mr.Green.

Months of hard work and dedication led up to November 9th and 10th for the cast and crew of Clue On Stage. Since September, 60 Liberty High students have spent countless hours learning lines, creating costumes, building sets, and developing connections with fellow cast and crew members. As it became closer to opening night more hours were spent in the Liberty Auditorium as students perfected every little detail in preparation for the first big show.

Students arrived at Liberty on August 29th ready to audition for Clue On Stage. A panel of judges watched as the students took turns portraying characters from the script. The students auditioned in groups so the directors could get a sense of their chemistry. Lastly, students were given a surprise task in order to test their acting ability.

Shannon Knipfer, the Director, said, “This year, we asked actors to ‘play dead’ and kill each other and be killed.”

Even though it was a morbid task to ask of students, it allowed the judges to get a better idea of acting abilities without transcending the 10-minute audition time.

Knipfer was in charge of organizing rehearsals.

“I create our rehearsal schedule with busy students in mind,” said Knipfer, “Most kids are involved in at least two or three after-school activities weekly, so we as a Drama Department have to share time with those other activities.”

The number of rehearsals increased as the date of the big show approached.

Mariana Lehnertz, freshman who played Miss Scarlet, said, “[In] an average [rehearsal] you go, say about 4 lines then stop, fix things, and start over again. It’s a long and grueling process. Tech week is worse, though. I feel like people think its easy, but it’s super difficult in reality.”

Although the rehearsals are long and grueling at times, Agustin Colon-Sanchez, junior who played Mr.Boddy, stated that during rehearsals, “The energy is usually high because of how excited we are and how much we love the play as a cast.”

While the cast of Clue On Stage had a lot of rehearsals, not much of that time is spent actually learning the fundamentals of how to act.

Colon-Sanchez said, “I haven’t ever been taught [to act]. I just tell myself to play a certain character, either from a movie or a different story, and try to personify that character as well as I can. I have been obsessed with movies [since] a very young age and it is just … amazing how I can now …  play a character that I have been seeing on a screen and bring it to life.”

“It’s hard because you don’t really get taught, it’s just you act how you would every day but exaggerate it. But I have been taking theatre classes at Nolte since I was 9,” said Lehnertz. “I feel like my dad is a very funny and over exaggerated person in general so he helps me a lot.”

Clue On Stage gave students at Liberty an outlet to express who they are as a person. Freshmen, sophomores, and, juniors can learn from each other and develop great connections.

Colon-Sanchez said, “I am the oldest person on the cast and I have been able to be friends with the new freshmen and they are some of the nicest and talented people I have ever worked with. I am so happy I was able to be a part of an experience such as the play where I can meet people who have the same amount of motivation as me to succeed.”

Clue On Stage was more than just a simple extracurricular activity. Students brought characters to life on stage, built an amazing set from scratch, and learned how to work the technical equipment in the auditorium. Most of all, they were able to create something amazing in the span of 9 weeks. Theater is an inclusive medium and all Liberty students are encouraged to be involved in the future.