Senior Ella Lewis returned to campus on Wednesday after being gone for almost a month due to injuries she received during rehearsals for the upcoming The SpongeBob Musical. Although not back to full strength, Lewis has seen significant improvements to her health. 

“It’s very weird,” Lewis said. “It feels like I’ve graduated because I’ve been gone for so long. It’s almost been a month, and I’ve missed so much. Everyone told me about the stuff they weren’t able to do with me gone, but I’m here now and getting my work done and making up tests so I can hopefully still graduate in December.”

During the time Lewis had been gone, the directors and actors for the musical had to figure out ways to practice as much as they could without their lead. For senior Kenna Hall, who will play Squidward, it will be exciting to work with Lewis again.

“I’m really excited,” Hall said. “It is nice to have Ella back. We had to focus on our solo scenes, which was sad because I loved the scenes we had together. She’s a joy to have at rehearsals, and it’s a joy to have her back.”

For theater director Heather Willingham, having Lewis back means having an actress who everyone in the show can rely on both on and off the stage.

“The main challenge of Ella being gone was that initially, we didn’t have an understudy,” Willingham said. “When you don’t have that glue to hold the whole show together, it makes it very difficult to rehearse. Ella brings a really great positive energy with her, and you could feel the absence of that. We hope she feels comfortable again and that she feels ready to go on when we have to perform in a month.”