Every year the International Thespian Society (ITS) holds a conference for Missouri theatre students. I had the pleasure of attending the conference with Troupe 5236, Lafayette’s troupe.

The conference lasted the weekend of January 10, and participants stayed two nights in the Renaissance Hotel in downtown St. Louis (the same hotel where Prom was held last spring).  Over 20 LHS students drove themselves down and joined 1400 students from other high school Troupes from Missouri.

Our only full conference day was January 10, which became a thespian’s perfect day. I’ll admit waking up at 7:00 am is not ideal, but as soon as I stepped into my first workshop, my exhaustion was irrelevant. This was the day seniors Marlon Banks, Shelby Foley, Kate Pennington and Katt Stinnett had their college scholarship auditions. Once we parted ways and wished them luck, we set off for the workshop of our choice with “safety buddies.” Natasha Toro, theater teacher and chaperone, expected us to travel with at least two other troupe members. Senior Jalyn Henderson, junior Jack Deline and Class of 2013 Jack Sippel (who attended the conference during his students days) were my “buddies” for the day.

We started with a short but sweet relaxation class. Our silent and calm workshop was followed by a chaotic class focusing on emotions. Jumping from a slight fear to an intense laughter was challenging, but we were there to challenge ourselves and grow as actors. Toro and Foley went with us to simply observe, and Foley did not participate because she was still anxiously awaiting her college scholarship audition scheduled for noon. We were informed Banks got a record-breaking sixteen callbacks!

After our workshop, we headed to lunch to, and the walk there definitely hits the top ten of my favorite things at the conference. Theatre kids are drama queens to the max. So, walking to lunch doesn’t mean walking; it means dancing. A conversation doesn’t mean talking, it’s singing interjected with whispered screams.

After we were through gawking at whatever adorable guy caught our eyes, we ate. The Jacks, Henderson and I are pros at dance workshops, so we spent the next hour step-kicking our way through a jazz class. Afterwards, we attended an improvisation workshop that focused on character and relationships.

Learning that Sippel was asked to teach a class became a highlight of my day. He was asked to lead after the previous teacher backed out because of the snow, and he taught a dance from his most recent production, the Broadway tour of Memphis. It was by far the hardest, but most entertaining workshop we had. Our thighs throbbed as we leaped and turn in the fast-paced number, but once it was over, we craved more. We returned to his workshop after dinner and learned another amazing number.

Next in our eventful day, we headed to the featured show of the night: The Miracle Worker, performed by Branson High School. The show illustrates the early life of Helen Keller and how she began to overcome her disability. It has a beautiful script and Branson complemented it well with an elaborate set and skilled actors. Moved by the played, I cried at every other scene, but I wasn’t depressed for too long. The conference dance directly followed.

Almost every conference student booty-popped their way to exhaustion. There was crowd surfing, Tekno Bubbles, black lights and a guy in a gorilla costume, so basically better than any Homecoming dance.

Eventually, the lights in the ballroom came up, and we were locked in our rooms. Shelby and I made the best of our solitude; we may have been locked in our rooms, but we could still text cute Parkway South boys. No matter how much fun we were having, eventually, conference had to end. Although our amazing days are through, everyone in Troupe 5236 has amazing memories that will last us a forever.