With the fall semester also comes the fall musical, a highly anticipated staple of Manhattan High School’s culture.

This year the drama department has decided to take on the classic “Hello Dolly.”  Taking place at the end of the 19th century, “Hello Dolly” follows the story of Dolly Levi as she travels to New York to do some of her famous matchmaker meddling.

While the show is still in the production stage, the entire drama department Is buzzing with excitement.  

“I’m really excited to be back at school and doing shows just in general; the Thespians are such kind, fun people, so I’m really excited to just go back and work on shows with them again,”  junior Grace Franke said.

With auditions beginning at the end of August actors and crew members are already preparing for the show.  

“It’s such a fun show and we’ve got such talented seniors this year,” junior Grace Franke said.

Along with the fall musical the Thespians have many more projects lined up for the year, including participation in the Freshman on The Hill event and their annual miming at Purple Power Play. One of their biggest projects, however, is the kids’ camp for USD 383 students on Sept. 22. This year the camp has a mystery theme in accordance with last year’s spring play “Rehearsal for Murder.”

According to senior class representative Ashlyn Gillispie, the main purpose of the camp is to introduce elementary and middle school students to the performing arts and give them the opportunity to learn about lighting and sound techniques, costumes, makeup skills and many other elements of theatre.

The Thespians are very excited to bring the camp back from last fall; however the camp isn’t the only thing the troupe is bringing back.  According to Thespian’s president senior Emma Lansdowne the troupe is also trying to bring back coffee houses, which is when everyone brings their favorite mug to the drama room and drinks coffee while putting on a talent show.  

Anyone can get up and sing a song or put on a skit or tell a story or whatever their heart desires.

“[It’s] a lot of joking around and good times with really good people,” Franke said.

The Thespians have a busy year ahead of them, packed with multiple shows, creative fundraisers, and overall good times. Lansdowne is looking forward to the year and is hoping to accomplish her many goals

“[I want Thespians to] gain more members and make sure they all feel included because one of the best parts of Thespians is how welcoming they are to people who are normally considered outsiders,” Landsdowne said. “Thespians give people a place to belong.”