To cap off the year, Wahlert Thespian troupe members, friends, and family gathered in the theater for Thespian Night, a celebration of all the theatrical events of the year. In addition to the celebration, new troupe members were inducted into the Thespian society through a definitely-not-cultish ceremony.

What is the Thespian society? It is an international society for theater students. To be inducted, students have to meet a base requirement of 10 thespian points (one point equals 10 hours of work in the theater). Society members continue to earn points for theater work after induction, achieving a “star” for every 10 points earned.

“The big deal about being a Thespian,” Gretchen Swift, ‘17, said, “is that you get to meet a lot of people who you would probably not meet otherwise. And then you get to go to Thespian festival, which is a lot of fun, and talk to people from different schools and learn about different shows, which is exciting.”

“I enjoy being a Thespian because I love sharing my love for music and also my love for acting,” Abby Burns, ‘18, said. “I like becoming somebody else but still being myself.”

At Wahlert, troupe members and family come together at the end of the year for one final show.

“Thespian night is all about getting new members for whatever troupe you’re a part of,” Swift said. “All the new members join the troupe, and we say goodbye to the seniors with senior skits.”

Since Thespian Night is a celebration of theater, the night is set up like a performance, and each grade plays a different role. Underclassmen are responsible for bringing food. Upperclassmen play active parts, taking turns performing onstage.

“The juniors’ job is to make fun of the seniors,” Samantha Montag, ‘17, said. “We get to do senior skits for it.

“It means a lot to us because throughout the years we get super close with the seniors over doing all kinds of theater stuff,” Montag said. “It’s a lot of fun to make fun of them and say goodbye, even though it’s really sad.”

The seniors also perform a skit, which is an important part of the initiation process. Their skit tells about the Thespian society and the importance of theater. While the general format is the same every year, each senior class personalizes the skit. This year’s skit featured “Man in Chair,” from the Drowsy Chaperone, and (of course) the Phantom of the Opera.

“We want to wrap up the year and all the shows we’ve been in,” Cindy Stierman, ‘16, said. “We combine what it means to be a Thespian with the shows we’ve performed.”

At the end of the night, seniors take their final bows and pass the troupe onto the underclassmen.