By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
EAST LANSING — Luke Agar and Olivia Lafnear represented Clarkston High School and Drama Club Troupe 803 at the Sutton Foster Awards in East Lansing, May 18.
“My experience at the event was so much fun but also exhausting,” Agar shared. “The first day of the performance weekend I spent almost the entirety of the 13-hour rehearsal working on the character medley I’d be a part of for the showcase. On Sunday, my character medley group and I put the finishing touches on our medley. We jumped into tech rehearsal for the showcase. Then, we had our showcase to cap off another long day of rehearsal.”
“My experience at Sutton Foster was definitely the best in my theater career,” Lafnear said. “Being around so many young talented people was such a gift and a unique experience overall. I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of it. I enjoyed being able to put a number together so quickly, the level of professionalism from my peers was really inspiring.”

The duo was nominated for their performances in the spring musical “Hello, Dolly!” as Lafnear performed as Dolly Levi and Agar as Horace Vandergelder.
“My response when I found out was actually quite funny. Luke and I were pulled from class and told the news,” Lafnear shared. “We proceeded to go out in the hallway and jumped up and down and giggled. We were extremely stoked. I felt extremely proud and grateful to be selected. This has been a goal of mine since freshman year, and I know my younger self would be extremely proud.”
She added it felt amazing to be selected for her performance of Dolly.
“I truly put my all into that character,” Lafnear said. “It’s nice to know that all the stress, love and tears that I put into her paid off.”
“Liv and I literally jumping around the hallway silently cheering. I was so excited,” Agar said, adding it felt encouraging to be selected for his performance as Horace. “I felt that being nominated was a form of recognition for the hard work I put in to tackle a role like Horace. It felt really fulfilling.”
Amy Seaman, CHS drama club director, shared there were over 150 other theatre students from all over Michigan there who had the opportunity to attend and compete at the Jimmy Awards in New York City.
“While Luke and Liv didn’t move forward to the Jimmy’s, they sure are winners in our book,” Seaman said. “They performed beautifully at the showcase performance and made CHS and Troupe 803 proud.”
“I enjoyed the opportunity to get to meet people from across the state who loved theater in the same way I did,” Agar said. “The people in my character medley were from all over. It was so much fun getting to know them and just meet new people.”
Agar and Lafnear graduated from Clarkston High School on June 2 and have their plans set for their next chapter.
Agar plans to attend the University of Miami (FL) to study musical theater.
“I’m incredibly excited for this next step in my performing journey, and I’m thrilled the Sutton Foster Awards got to be another step in that journey,” Agar said.
“The next step in my journey is attending Stephens College, specifically the conservatory and earning my BFA in musical theater,” Lafnear shared. “It is my dream and passion, and I cannot see myself doing anything else. I’m excited to see where it takes me.”

  Clarkston High School, Clarkston High School Drama Club