By Babiha Kaur, Digital Editor
On the evening of May 9, 2023, the River Hill thespians gathered in the cafeteria to celebrate another successful year for the theatre community. Students who participated in the cast and crew of this year’s play or musical were all invited to attend the special theatre banquet.
River Hill’s theatre banquet is held annually in May, two months after the spring musical. During the event, students share their love for theatre with their peers while enjoying a potluck style dinner. Junior Harrison McCarthy believes that the purpose of the event is “to celebrate our success in our shows and also find out what’s going to come next.” Junior Jazzy Dong attended the banquet for the first time, and she very much enjoyed “being around good people, eating good food, and hanging out.”
A main highlight of the theatre banquet is finding out the play and musical for next year. The seniors typically perform short scenes from the shows to reveal them to the underclassmen. Next year, the theatre department will perform the play She Kills Monsters and the musical The Lightning Thief. Sophomore Bhavika Vyas believes that these shows are “great fit[s] for our school and our cast.”
Many students enjoyed watching the show reveals. Jazzy exclaims, “The seniors were… trying to play with our feelings a bit about the musical. I think it was all really funny, for the underclassmen, trying to just sit there and guess what the musical was going to be. They went through every musical in the book!” Bhavika also liked watching the scenes, commenting, “The performances [the seniors] put on were so great and well thought out, so I loved that!” Lots of the seniors were dressed up as characters from other unrelated musicals and plays to make the reveal more exciting.
In addition to revealing next year’s shows, the theatre banquet is also a time to appreciate the seniors, reflect on the fortunate year, spend time with peers and teachers, and look forward to next year. Lots of students enjoyed sharing their love for theatre with this special group one last time. Bhavika concludes, “It was so nice to see everyone again, all together, in one room, after High School Musical and Clue.” Many students believe that the theatre community is a very special one to be a part of.
The event was mainly run by the seniors. This year, the Class of 2023 presented “Paper Plate Awards”—special awards to each member of the community for helping make the year a success—to the underclassmen. Jazzy enjoyed seeing “the seniors appreciate us and give us all the love. We’re really going to miss them, so it was nice to let them have their moment.” Everyone will cherish the happy memories that they made with their friends. Although the Class of 2023 won’t be able to perform in next year’s shows, many of them will come back as alumni to see the upcoming performances.
Overall, students are delighted that they were able to attend this year’s theatre banquet. Bhavika reflects, “I think that the banquet is a great way to wrap up the year, just because you get to see everyone again, you get to talk about and reflect on things, and it’s just a really great way to look back [on] everything that’s happened throughout the year.” Harrison also believes that the banquet is a good time to reflect on the year because “people take photos [and] videos of each other and remember funny moments from rehearsals and backstage.”
The theatre banquet was once again a success for the actors, actresses, and crew members of River Hill. The cast and crew alike are looking forward to staging next year’s fall play and spring musical. Stay tuned for what the River Hill theatre department has in store for next year!