Free State theatre students earn Blue Star Awards for Addams Family show

Free State High School’s theatre students brought home major Blue Star Awards recognition after The Addams Family Musical: School Edition earned wins in lighting, featured performance and orchestra, then gave the opening number a bigger spotlight at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City.

Piper Northrop won a Tier 1 Blue Star Award for outstanding lighting design, and Harper York earned a Tier 1 award for outstanding performer in a featured role for playing Grandma. The Free State orchestra also took home a Tier 1 award for outstanding orchestra, a reminder that the show’s success rested on more than what audiences saw under the lights.

The production also drew a long list of nominations across the stagecraft and performance categories. Owen Börk was nominated for Gomez Addams, Lily Davis for Wednesday Addams and Felix Ovsak for Lurch, while the show was also recognized in hair and makeup, costume design, scenic design, technical crew, ensemble and overall production.

Because the musical was nominated for outstanding overall production, the cast performed “When You’re an Addams” in front of the Blue Star Awards audience at Starlight Theatre. That made the honor more than a plaque or announcement. It put Lawrence students on a regional stage, where the work of rehearsals, design calls and pit orchestra preparation had to land in front of a live crowd.

The recognition carried added weight because of how selective the Blue Star program is. Starlight launched the awards in 2003 and says they are modeled after Broadway’s Tony Awards. For the 2025-26 season, 66 schools and nearly 5,100 metro-area students took part, with winners named in 31 categories and $10,000 in monetary prizes awarded.

Starlight held the 24th annual Blue Star Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Starlight Theatre in Swope Park. The event was staged as a red-carpet celebration with 10 onstage performances, and it remains one of the region’s most visible showcases for high school musical theatre.

For Free State, the awards added to a growing record of Blue Star attention. The school’s theatre program was also recognized in 2024 for Bright Star, underscoring how the Lawrence program has built repeat success through student discipline, adult mentoring and the kind of behind-the-scenes collaboration that turns a school production into regional theater-caliber work.