by JIM CULLEN
Local thespians from all five local middle schools and both Lehman and Hays High School came together recently at the Performing Arts Center in the Hays CISD One Act Play Festival that has become an annual celebration of stage presentations.
Scoring and judging comments on their one act plays were offered to each of the five middle schools and special recognition was given for stand-out individual performances and technical work.
Lehman’s Marissa Meek and Hays High School’s Dana Naughton coordinated the event, with the enthusiastic assistance of their students. Those students capped the day with performances of their own 2011 One Act Plays, set for Zone competition in coming weeks.
Highlighting the 2011 festival’s individual awards were Simon Middle School’s Jaciel Cruz for Best Actor and Dahlstrom Middle School’s Claudia Norman for Best Actress.
Sponsors from the various middle schools were quick to compliment the overall event as well as congratulate their recognized students.
Wallace Middle School’s Brandon Snyder called the event “an exceptionally talented festival” and said, “It is always a great experience for the students from different schools to see the products that each cast has been working on for months. But this year I feel each school really stepped up their game.” Performing Small Actors, the Rangers placed eighth grader Sierra Herrera and seventh grader Marcos Rivera on the All Star Cast, eighth grader Raven Mendoza on the All Star Crew, and seventh grader Keaton Miles on the All Star Cast Honorable Mention list.
In addition to the Jaciel Cruz Best Actor performance as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Simon Middle School’s Lexi Gossett and Grayson Steininger earned All Star Cast recognition and Karina Bustos earned a Tech Award. Wolverine director Hilary Lockhart said “the students worked very hard for long hours to successfully deliver this performance” and said she and her returning students “look forward to participating in next year’s festival.”
Director Susannah Wynne’s Chapa Middle School students presented “The Miracle Worker,” the effort earning Starr Rivers and Erin Limon All Star Cast honors and cast-mates Kyler McGehee and Elizabeth Walters All Star Cast Honorable Mention. Conrad Russell was among the All Star Techs. Director Wynne noted that her students look forward to the annual festival, calling it “a day filled with fun, awesome performances and many new learning experiences,” when students meet their district counterparts and reunite with past theater schoolmates. Wynne says of the event, “It warms my heart every year to see the number of my ex-students involved in the high school theater programs grow.”
Barton Middle School director Stephanie Townley, whose students performed “Rest in Peace,” assessed the 2011 festival saying her students “have grown so much over this last year and did a great job!” Townley remarked on the growth she observed in all of the district’s programs and was appreciative of her students “having fun and getting to see other schools at their best.” The Bobcats placed Tristan Aultman on All Star Cast and Sarah Costley and Uly Lomelli on All Star Cast Honorable Mention. Additionally, Kaitlyn Turner won a Tech Award.
Dahlstrom Middle School director Rob Vinyard made the praise unanimous, saying, “The kids loved it! They got to see the other plays, they got to hang out in real dressing rooms, and – most importantly – they got to perform on a ‘real’ stage. Lifetime memories were created that day.” In addition to Claudia Norman’s Best Actress performance in the Mustangs’ “Sticks and Stones in Cyberspace,” Dahlstrom’s individual honorees included Noelle Cardenas for All Star Cast, Megan Guerin and Gabriella Graham for All Star Cast Honorable Mention, zand Taylor Burrell for Tech Award.
