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LAIRE STEVENER HAS dedicated an entire wall of her bedroom to the posters she has received from each show she has been a part of at KHS. But there is something missing. Where there should be a poster for "The Addams Family," there's an empty space. The KH Players were set to perform the show beginning April 1, but it was postponed due to COVID-19. Stevener, senior, has been a part of the theater program at KHS since her freshman year, "The Addams Family" is the 13th show she has worked on. For 11 of them, she designed costumes. "["The Addams Family"] was a monster to deal with, costume- wise," Stevener said. "There were a few costumes that I worked so hard on, and was like, 'I need to see this on stage.'" One challenge she faced was getting costumes for the Ancestors, who are the ensemble of the show. Each Ancestor represented a different time period, from flappers to a revolutionary queen, and each costume had to be dyed gray. "You kind of look back and think, 'Dang, I did all of this work,'" Stevener said. "Now the underclassmen get to have all of the fun next year." Instead of canceling the production, it was postponed to the fall of 2020. Current seniors will have graduated, and they will not be there to participate in the show. "I understand why, but it is disappointing," Stevener said. "I will most definitely [come to the production next fall]." The KH Players typically put on four shows a year, ending with the musical in the spring. After each show, the cast will often throw a party at a restaurant. After the musical, there is a banquet where they give out awards, honor the seniors and announce the shows for the coming year. "The banquet is a time where you hug your directors, you say 'thank you' to the seniors, you cry and laugh and joke around," Stevener said. "I don't want that over a Zoom call." Stevener said they don't know if they are going to have an in- person banquet yet, and they are still working on alternative options. After the banquet, seniors sign their names at the top of the theater and crew members paint their handprint on the wall of the shop. "I will definitely get my name up on that wall," Stevener said. "I will come back when I'm 80 to put my name on that wall." Since the musical is the last show of the year, Stevener said it is often emotional for the crew. She said she feels she is not getting complete closure for her time with the KH Players. "I call it the Senior Sob Moment," Stevener said. "After the last show, everyone runs into the green room and you look around and you see all your senior friends. You do that thing where you look at them and you're like, 'don't you dare start crying,' and then somebody starts crying. Then everyone bursts into tears." Although disappointed about the end of her time with the KH Players, Claire is grateful for the time she got with the program. But, she is missing out on her Senior Sob Moment. "That's the end, there are no more shows," Stevener said. "It sucks that I am not getting that moment. But again, we are going down in history. This is the year that everything shut down."
Claire Stevener
19
Story by GRACE KLEBE Photo by BRIGID VAN REES
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