There’s one thing about high school that everyone hates: rumors. Whether they’re about someone you don’t know, a close friend or yourself, no one likes the little story that aren’t true going around school. However, LHS’ production of “Rumors” is nothing like actual rumors. The theatre department opened the Little Theatre’s doors for the production of “Rumors” on April 27-29. On top of this being a big production seniors also have to deal with the fact that this is their last production.

As the year starts to draw to a close LHS will have to face the reality that the class of 2017 will be walking across the stage sooner than most realize. When you have a tight knit family like the theatre department does, this makes saying goodbye even more difficult.

“We’re really close and it’s just a really good cast,” senior Emma Davis said. “We work well together, we enjoy being around each other and it just makes it a really fun experience.”

Some seniors have been performing in shows at LHS since freshman year, others have been on crew and some are trying their hand at performing this year rather than working behind the scenes. While people may think that these seniors will continue to perform in their college career some of these seniors won’t be solely focusing on their involvement in theatre and will be worrying about student loans rather than getting makeup on their costumes. But, rather than moping around the seniors have been trying to make the best out of their last show at LHS.

“I’m proud of it.” senior Trevor Harr said. “I really like this show and I think this cast did really, really well. I think it’s a good thing to end on. The lines are hard so that the bad side of it, but once you have them down you just get to have fun with it.”

Before this production took place, the students that participated in the production had to get themselves ready for the performances ahead. While some preparation took place at school,  many had to spend a lot of their free time during after hours to make sure everything was in order. This meant running lines with friends and fellow cast members, building onto the set whenever they could and working on lighting.

“It’s been about 50-75 hours spent working on this show,” freshman Alex Johnson said. “We’ve spent weekends, late nights after school and even have had parents come in to help with set.”

Leading up to the show, the crew of “Rumors” had been working long and hard to make sure that the set is built and props and costumes were ready. To some this may seem like a process that could easily be done in a short frame of time, but that’s where a problem lies. Due to advancement of Readers’ Theatre (Into the Woods) and the One Act (Of Mice and Men) to state, the schedule had been changed around so that the people involved in these activities could make sure that they are state ready. This adds more stress to those involved in the play. Nevertheless, everyone involved had been lending a helping hand to make up for lost time. Even the little things made a difference and no job was unimportant.

“I am one of the assistant stage managers and I also do the voice of Myra,” junior Mariah Shipley said. “At the beginning of rehearsals I’m on book, which means I’m following along in the script and making notes of any lines that are missed or incorrect. I do whatever Mr. Turpin or Macey Kern need in order for the show to function. Myra is a person who is talked about frequently by the characters but never actually seen. At the end, however, she has a couple of lines off stage.”

The teachers putting the show together, Michael Turpin and Don Johnson, had been working on this production before the auditions even started. Just like every show that has been put on, this one may have brought back some memories.

“This was my first production when I was in high school. I was pressured into auditioning for this production during my sophomore theatre class,” said Turpin. “The next day I found out I was cast in the show as Glenn Cooper. The rest is history. This production is a challenging and fun opportunity for any student involved.”