Avery Mathieu

Students learn about the theatre’s sound booth in a tour led by senior Isaac Lowe.

The theatre department had its first ever breakfast on Aug. 26 to celebrate the beginning of their season. At this breakfast, the department supplied donuts and coffee, played games and gave tours of the auditorium.

This kickoff was open to all students, parents, and incoming Olathe West students. Sophomore Ashlyn Warren shared that her favorite part of the morning was meeting all the new freshmen and current eighth graders. 

Senior Leo Steger said that his favorite part was sharing more about theatre with the younger students. 

“Getting to have people from the middle schools, or people who are freshmen and they’ve never seen anything and their eyes just like, go so wide when they see something new,” Steger said.

During the tours, students and their families got to explore all of the parts of the theater including the stage, props closet, lights closet, workshop, sound booth and catwalk. 

Theater director Alisha Morris believes that a well-rounded member of theater is involved in the tech side of theater as well as the acting side of theater. These tours provided the opportunity for students to be introduced to parts of the theater that they had not seen before.

Steger prides himself on being involved in both tech as well as acting. 

“I love both, and it’s so much fun to do the backstage stuff and it’s also really fun to be onstage,” Steger said. 

Ashlyn Warren says she “prefers a little bit of both,” having been the assistant costume designer for the production of Baskerville her freshman year, as well as performing onstage in other productions.

The breakfast was also a way to celebrate this year’s upcoming theater season including the musicals The Prom, and Into the Woods, as well as the The Love of Three Oranges and Twelve Angry Jurors.

“If you’re thinking about trying it, just try it and if it’s not your niche, then you can always try something else, so just go for it,” Warren said.