The drama club at Jonathan Law High School in Milford dedicated their performance on Friday to Maren Sanchez, their classmate killed at the school a week ago.
The club put on its first performance of "Little Shop of Horrors," a show in which Sanchez was to play a key role. She was supposed to be the puppeteer manning the costume for Audrey II, the blood-thirsty plant at the center of the musical comedy's plot.
Michael Mele, the head of the drama department, said the 16-year-old Sanchez loved to perform and he believes she would want the show to go on.
"There was something about her. She just had this natural knack of making the plant move and becoming the puppet, and she enjoyed doing it, which is really important," Mele said. "She had a lot of fun. She just loved being there. We loved every minute we had with her."
Sanchez was stabbed in a hallway at Jonathan Law last Friday and died at the hospital a short time later. Christopher Plaskon, a 16-year-old classmate, has been charged with Sanchez's murder.
Mele said he decided to edit some of the show's lines referencing blood and violence. Some of the costumes were redesigned to include the color purple, which was Sanchez's favorite color.
The most emotional part of the night came during the curtain call. After the cast members took their bows, they moved away from the center of the stage where a special purple light shone.
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Part of The Beatles' "In My Life" was played to honor Sanchez before the curtains closed.
