The curtain opens on a dark stage with the sounds of shoes running across the stage to get to their places in time. Suddenly, the sound stops as the voice of senior and social officer Emma Frith comes across the speakers saying, “This is going to be the best spring show ever,” starting off the Celebrities final performance of the year.

The Celebrities’ final performance, called Up, Up and Away, was held on May 6 and 7 and featured dances from the different classes, group performances and five minute kick number finales. The team has been preparing for this show since the end of the football season, and according to senior and captain Katie Kim, this year’s show really lived up to the team’s high expectations.

“The show went really well,” Kim said. “Throughout my three years of being a celebrity, and the extra years of watching the show as an audience member, I would have to say that our show this year has felt the most cohesive and ‘on-theme.’ Knowing how much work my teammates, directors, managers and hosts put in the show this year, I’m extremely satisfied with our final product. It’s safe to say that this show is one of the things I’m most proud of.”

This year’s theme was hosted by seniors Lucy Walter and Frith and junior Audrey Johnson. They had the task of introducing the performances and making sure they kept to the theme with funny jokes and clever lines.

“I thought the spring show went amazing and we really did our best to try and make the audience laugh,” Frith said. “I had a really great time when I was making the script but actually Lucy and Audrey made most of the script and I just made some edits. Audrey was really the mastermind behind a lot of the jokes in the script because she’s so naturally funny and Lucy and I kind of filled in some holes. I had a really great time performing with these two girls because they are some of my best friends and they’re so fun to hang out with.”

Hosting for previous spring shows is usually done by the celebrities’ announcer Jason Dane. For their 20th anniversary in 2019 broadcast director Anthony Garcia and English Teacher and cheer coach Nadira King hosted the spring show. This year, the directors wanted to keep the job of hosting “in-house” and offered the position to Frith, Walter and Johnson.

“Audrey and [wrote the script] while the team was preparing for Hawaii because we weren’t going to Hawaii with celebrities,” Walter said. “But, it was fun getting to wrap in all the dance numbers to our skits. I did feel a little stressed [writing the script] because I didn’t want it to be too corny or not funny. We just couldn’t make it too serious, It had to be a joke because we want people to actually enjoy our presents on stage and not be bored.”

The team has been working on their routines since their dance camp in the summer, where they learn most of their routines for the year. This year, there was no competition season, so the team had extra time to go over the performances and polish the little things. During the week of the show, the team moved rehearsals into the PAC to perfect the spacing and lighting.

“I think we felt pretty prepared for the show,” junior Sophia Farias said. “We had been working on our dances months in advance. Obviously the last few weeks leading up to the actual show was really stressful getting last minute polish in and figuring out costumes and lighting, but we all knew by the week of the show that we were ready because we had been working so hard.”

For seniors, this was their last year performing with the team, leaving the current juniors to live up to their standards of leading and presenting a good example for underclassmen peers, according to junior and incoming captain Sandra Ziegler. She has been preparing to step into her new role by learning from Kim and applying what she’s learned for next year.

“The seniors were a super important part of our team and it won’t be that same without them,” Ziegler said. “But, I am super excited to have a new group of girls come in and get to experience all of the exciting things celebs have to offer. Honestly, Katie, the current captain, has done a great job of leading our team and I am very lucky that I was able to learn so much from her. I will apply what I learned when leading next year and I am super excited to step into the captain role.”

Many of the members, like Johnson, said they share a sad feeling that the season is over, especially when the members have created such a close bond with their peers including the seniors. With this last show, returning members are preparing to say their goodbyes to their senior class.

“I’m really sad about the season being over,” Johnson said. “This team had such a good friendship bond. We all got really close and show circles before the shows were very sad. It’s just hard to say goodbye to these seniors, we’ve had such a strong senior class this year they’re amazing dancers and amazing people they’re just such good leaders on the team and we’re gonna suffer without them I’m excited about next year but i’m sad that I’ve only got one year left with celebrities and then I’m gonna be off the team.”

With this being the senior class’ last show of the year, for some even the last show they will dance in, the senior class made sure to make this show one to remember. According to Farias, the seniors are leaving behind more than just their positions.

“I think the seniors have built a really good foundation with the current juniors and sophomores which is going to allow us to keep a tight bond,” Farias said. “The seniors we have this year are incredible dancers and work so hard so I think they are leaving a very good impression behind.”

For seniors, this spring show was their last chance to work with their peers and perform on the PAC stage.

“It’s been difficult to process the fact that my life as a Celeb is finally over,” Kim said. “Now that the red curtain has closed, it’s finally settling in that my time wearing the glitter and the boots has expired. I’ve known that I would have to face the bittersweet ending at some point, but it’s definitely been harder than I thought it would be to let go of this team. In some ways I’m glad I have something that I will miss, because that means that this was worthwhile and valuable to me. More than anything, however, I just feel fortunate to have passed through such a respectable and enriching organization. The lessons and memories I’ve gained from Celebrities is something I will never take for granted.”