During the week of Spring break, the UHS theater magnet students performed and presented at the annual Florida State Thespian Festival. The magnet received multiple superiors and perfect scores on their presentations/performances. They left for the competition on March 18th, and came back on the 21st.
On Thursday the 19th, they performed the one act “The Storm in the Barn”, receiving Top Honors from the judges. The large group musical performance was “Madame Guillotine” from the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel, with 15 students in total performing it. They also got Top Honors and Judge’s Choice, meaning they got to perform it later in the day on the main stage for an even bigger crowd. “We started practice last October once or twice a week after school. We also spent some days practicing during lunch. It felt like an honor to receive the awards from the judges.” said junior Chris Rivera.
It wasn’t just acting presentations, but also technical presentations. “I started working on that design in February of last year, so I spent about 13 months working on it. When I won, it felt really amazing, and all of my hard work felt like it was worth it.” said sophomore Mayte Cardona Raber, a magnet student. Mayte won Top Honors and Judge’s Choice for their Cabaret makeup design.
The student representatives from each district held a fundraiser, the “SOS Ducks”. Each duck purchased helped raise money for thespian scholarships. The district with the most ducks in their pond would win a prize. Junior Olivia Beaumont, and senior Ella Turner represented Florida as the District 5 student representatives. Micheal Quiros, Hayden Stem, Mahlee Sutherland, and Ella Turner competed in the “Tech Olympics”, a competition for backstage technicians, like lighting, sound, props, and costumes, to showcase their skills. They won first place.
Even after all of their hard work at Thespian States, they came back to school and continued to work hard on their upcoming musical, Young Frankenstein. They had after school rehearsals every day until 8:00, and 8 hour rehearsals on Saturdays.
