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A Spooktacular Halloween show at
Lincoln Community High School teaches grade schoolers to celebrate
safely
[October 30, 2026]
Lincoln Community High School
Thespian Club celebrated Halloween with their 26th annual
Spooktacular, an entertaining show about Halloween safety performed
for area schoolchildren the week of Halloween every year. The
25-minute show is written, directed, crewed, choreographed, and
performed entirely by LCHS students. Preparations begin after Fall
Play at LCHS, so Thespian Club members work hard to put together
this interactive show for their young audiences in a limited time.
This year’s performances were on
October 27 in the LCHS auditorium with approximately 900 children
attending between the 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. shows. Children ages
preschool through third grade came from almost every school in Logan
County including District 27, West Lincoln-Broadwell, Chester-East
Lincoln, Carroll Catholic, New Holland-Middletown, Mt. Pulaski, and
preschoolers from Christian Child Care.
The Spooktacular features a
different cast of characters and a new story every year but teaches
the same lessons about Halloween safety and incorporates the same
original songs from year to year. This year’s theme was Toy Story
and featured familiar characters from the movies preparing for
Halloween together. Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, Rex, Jessie, Ham, and
Forky taught lessons through skit, song, and dance about Halloween
safety.
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Lesson one taught
costume safety: make sure costumes are visible in the dark and
are not so long they cause tripping hazards. Ensure visibility
and safe passage by carrying a light, or even a glow stick to
make safety more fun. “See and be seen on Halloween!” summed up
the lesson for the children. Lesson two was how to stay safe if
children are separated from their families while
trick-or-treating. Families should agree on a “safe word” so
that when searching for a lost child, adults can identify
themselves as a safe person with the secret word upon locating
the child. The third lesson was to not eat homemade treats or
unwrapped treats to avoid tummy aches.
During the production, costumed
dancers made up of additional Thespian Club members sang and danced
in the aisles of the auditorium making the production more
interactive for the children seated in the audience. All members of
Thespians participate in Spooktacular every year.
This year’s Spooktacular was written
and directed by Thespian Club President Ryne Manuel and Vice
President Zack Eckhardt. The Thespian officers worked
collaboratively on the script for this year’s Spooktacular. LCHS
staff sponsor Samantha Murphy said, “Not only do the officers spend
their summer writing an entire show and later, casting it and
running rehearsals themselves, but we also only have about two weeks
to put it all together. Most of our cast, crew, and directors were
in the fall play (while also being in band, speech, choir, the list
goes on and on), and they jumped into this one without a break!”
Thespian Club president and co-director Ryne Manuel said, “This is a
really fun show. I am grateful to the Thespian Club that they
provide this opportunity to direct a great show and educate kids
about Halloween.” Vice-president and co-director Zack Eckhardt
agreed, “These are great people and a great community to be around.
It was a great time!”
Murphy added, “I say it every year, but it is also so true; I am so
blown away by these kids. Our main directors, Ryne Manual and Zack
Eckhardt, have been so positive and encouraging in their director’s
roles. They have crafted a cute, funny show that I hope students
will be talking about for years to come. Our actors have embodied
the role of their character easily. Our crew has worked hard to make
Andy's room come alive.”
LCHS presents Spooktacular slideshow
[Stephanie Hall] |
