Lights, camera, snack time.

Manhattan High’s Thespian troupe got to take part in all three of these things at their theater workshop hosted for children kindergarten through eighth grade this past weekend. The workshop was a fundraiser for the troupe in which children learn all about what it’s like to be in drama, including learning songs and dances from the upcoming fall musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“The planning process was really intense,” junior Thespian officer Samuel Clark said. “There was a lot of meetings, a lot of planning. I was there to make sure [other officers] had realistic expectations about these stations.”

Despite the tireless planning and advertising, the day went off without a hitch.

“We let the kids into Rezac and they joined everyone on stage for warmups,” sophomore Finn Husling said. “I think they adjusted really fast and I think they really enjoyed it. The younger ones, they’ve never seen this stuff. We would bring down the lights and everything. It was really cool to see how the kids reacted and how quickly they picked up the songs and the dances.”

For many Thespians, coaching kids wasn’t an everyday job, so the experience was a brand new one.

“It was an interesting experience — I’m not that great with kids but it was pretty fun to see them all,” Huslig said. “They had great energy they were bouncing off the walls. They were so excited about snack time, about everything. It was just like a different world.”

Clark agreed that it was a good experience.

“The kids reacted overwhelmingly positive,” Clark said. “It was challenging, though; little kids have very short attention spans but I think we were able to connect with them enough. They really liked the song and the dance, and they had a lot of fun. All the people who were helping out had a really great time. Even though it was a really long day, we ended the day on a good note.”

With such positive reactions all around and a good turn out, the Thespians are already planning their next workshop.

“We are planning to do this again in the spring,” Clark said. “We are trying to schedule around prom and homecoming. It’s going to be very similar to this one but instead of song and dances we are going to teach them things from the winter play.”

Huslig said the workshop may become a regular event.

“We were really just testing the waters but we are definitely going to do this again in the spring,” he said.