Last Monday at 7 p.m., Hingham High School Drama Club students filed into the school for Thespian Night. This night honors devoted theatre students who have participated in 4+ shows over the course of two consecutive years, working as tech for at least one show. This feat earns HHS theatre kids the title of “Thespian.” Along with Thespian recognitions and some other awards, the night–which to non-theatre students can be described as something close to a sports banquet–is also when Drama Club Director Ms. Levy-Sisk announces next year’s club officers and shows. The night is filled with suspense, anticipation, and lots of excitement, and also serves as a reminder to all who attend regarding how loving the world of theatre is, especially at HHS.

The night started off with a welcome from the current senior co-presidents of the Drama Club: Casey Hussey and Andersson Perry. They announced that they would hint at the upcoming fall musical show throughout the night with three clues. The final clue that caused much speculation was that next year’s musical is connected to Italy, Greece, England, and Sweden.

After their introduction, the attendees watched the traditional senior impressions video that the juniors created, teasing the Drama Club’s seniors. Though hilarious and fun, the video also gave a bittersweet goodbye to the beloved senior members that everyone will miss dearly.

Ms. Levy-Sisk then took to the podium to congratulate the Thespians. The following students are newly inducted Thespian members:

Carter Anderson   

Margaret Asmus    

Olivia Barbuto

Maeve Brienzi   

Meaghan Burke

Nick Capodilupo

Sydney Collins   

Lizzy Ford

Connor Keliher

Colleen Keohane

Devan Kushnir

Nathan Lavoie

Isabella MacNaughton

Will Maxwell

Aiden Murphy

Benton Perry

Peyton Semjen

Evelyn Steiner

Molly Schwall

Dorian Walker

Rachael Warhaftig

Morgan Willison

These students are second year Thespians:

Shanah Goddard

Vivian McIsaac

Olivia Monarch

Riley Potter

And, finally, the following people are third year Thespians.

Curran Dillis

Elijah Fano

Casey Hussey

Daisy Koch

Ben Sisk

Nick Thompson

After recognizing the Thespians, Ms. Levy-Sisk also gave out awards and speeches about particular Drama Club members. The following students won awards which are listed next to their name:

Nathan Lavoie, Outstanding Sophomore Award

Evelyn Steiner, Outstanding Sophomore Award

Will Maxwell, Outstanding Sophomore Award

Lizzy Ford, Outstanding Junior Award

Morgan Willison, Outstanding Junior Award

Riley Potter, Outstanding Junior Award

Shannah Goodard, Outstanding Junior Award

Ben Sisk, Outstanding Senior Award

Curran Dillis, Outstanding Senior Award

Nick Thompson, Outstanding Senior Award

Elijah Fano, Senior Achievement Award

Vivian McIssac, Senior Achievement Award

Molly Schwall, Senior Achievement Award

Sam Perakslis, Senior Achievement Award

Daisy Koch, Senior Achievement Award

Devan Kushnir (Junior), Performer of the Year Award

Casey Hussey (Senior), Best Thespian Award

Andersson Perry (Senior), Best Thespian Award

After these students received their awards, Ms. Levy-Sisk announced the results of the 2019 Drama Club Officer Election for the 2019-2020 year:

Sophomore Representatives: Morgan Hurley and Kate Schembri

Junior Representatives: Nathan Lavoie, Evelyn Steiner, and Rachel Warhaftig

Senior Representatives: Devan Kushnir and Peyton Semjen

Backstage Crew Chair: Alex Fano (rising junior)

Sound Crew Chair: Isabella MacNaughton (rising senior)

Makeup Crew Chair: Bella Lavoie (rising sophomore)

Props Crew Co-Chairs: Genevra Donnelly (rising junior) and Susanna Moore (rising senior)

Lights Crew Chair: Ella Potter (rising sophomore)

Costume Crew Co-Chairs: Shannah Goodard and Riley Potter (rising seniors)

Treasurer: Connor Kelliher (rising junior)

Secretary: Riley Potter (rising senior)

Co-Presidents: Lizzy Ford and Morgan Willison (rising seniors)

Following these exciting announcements, Ms. Levy-Sisk revealed what all the students were desperately longing to know: next year’s shows! For the fall musical, the Drama Club will be putting on Mamma Mia!, a show that everyone is especially excited for. To compete with at Festival, the Drama Club will perform The Actor’s Nightmare. As for the spring play, the Drama Club will present 12 Angry Men.

There then was short snack break, during which the students chatted about the awards and the upcoming show season. Afterward, the cabaret portion of the evening began with junior Morgan Willison singing a beautiful song while she played the guitar. Then, sophomore Nathan Lavoie and junior Olivia Barbuto performed a rendition of “What I’ve Been Looking For” from High School Musical. Nathan then returned to the stage this time for a hilarious improv scene with sophomore Benton Perry and senior Andersson Perry. Finally, the seniors performed a sing-along and brought up underclassmen to dance.

Next year’s drama club co-presidents, Morgan Willison and Lizzy Ford, spoke on their Thespian Night and their excitement for next year. Morgan commented, “I want to say that I’m super super excited for next year and so optimistic about how awesome it’s going to be. Thespian Night was probably one of the best nights of the entire year just because of how many great friends I saw and even if you weren’t in all the shows together, you got to meet your friends!” Lizzy added, “For me, I would say–I mean I think Morgan can relate to this–it was definitely one of the greatest nights of our life because we became the two drama club presidents, and it was really fun!”

Lizzy continued, “It was really spectacular because something that you don’t see often is Ms. [Levy-]Sisk actually being nice to you. She yells at you all year, but the reason that you keep doing it is because she tells you [at Thespian Night] all the good things you did this year and you’re like ‘oh sick, so she actually does respect us and care about us.’” Morgan chimed in, “It’s so rewarding” to which Lizzy responded, “Yeah it really is, and she is like the drama mom… it’s great.”

Thespian Night was quite the event, filled with honors, awards, and entertainment, but most of all, it once again displayed the beautiful relationships formed in Drama Club that continue to drive the club to success.