Oh, yeah, that's one possible source of angst, isn't it? :-)
Yes, I got that Stage Manager was a role, despite never having heard of this play.
As for Lois wanting to graduate a year early... maybe her parents had her repeat a grade when they moved to Kansas and she switched schools, and this has always bothered her? (This is Lois, after all.) She's only six months younger than Clark, so it doesn't seem implausible.
