Before the holiday break, many Thespians went to Thescon to learn more about the stage and share what they do to the judges there. One of these presenters was junior Lauren O’Connor, who ended up winning Best Stage Management IE presentation with a superior rating! In a nutshell, this means that she is the best stage manager in the state. Because of this, she qualified for the International Thespian Festival this summer, which is a week long.
“It feels really amazing to win this award. I have worked extremely hard stage managing several shows and have improved a lot,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor started her stage crew journey in seventh grade, when she was on the run and construction crew for Newton Middle School’s production of Annie Jr. She then moved on to Early High School here, where she applied for the same thing in LHS’ production of The Wedding Singer. She has been a part of every show at LHS since then. O’Connor started stage managing with the 2024 show Young Frankenstein, continuing to do it for 6 shows here!
When asked why she does stage managing, O’Connor said, “I choose Stage Management because I have a passion for theatre, organization, leadership, solving problems creatively, and ensuring that a production runs smoothly throughout the whole process. I choose it over other roles in theatre because of its responsibility and dedication required. I enjoy all aspects of theatre, and love being a stagehand, and I am open to working in all areas of technical theatre.”
Overall, O’Connor is very grateful to have won this award, and she is proud of being recognized at such a large level!
