Thirty-one students from the Montverde Theatre Department earned the opportunity to compete at the Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa from March 20-23. Both individuals and groups advanced to State based on the earlier top awards received at the District XII Festival in December to compete against other top award winners from 15 districts statewide. The troupe earned Straight Superior ratings for every performance being adjudicated. They also earned top honors in the State for One Act, Solo Musical, Large Group Musical and Ensemble Acting.
Groups earning Straight Superior ratings and Top Honors include: Large Group Musical for the song, “Bottoms Gonna Be On Top,” performed by Joshua Brown, Lucas Brown, Bella Crider, Emma Crider, Caiti Fallon, Aidan Fracker, Kaylin Gines, Logan Lopez, Maya Mills, Vanessa Mills, Anthony Morehead, Alia Rodriguez, Kaylah Scott, Molly Smith, and Hanna Swidler; Ensemble Acting in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” performed by Aiden Bjortvedt, Logan Lopez, Vanessa Mills, and Anthony Morehead; and the One Act category for “Next to Normal.”
Straight Superior ratings were received for the Small Group Musical performance of “Forever Yours,” performed by Lucas Brown, Logan Lopez, Maya Mills, Vanessa Mills, Benazir Serna, and Peytann Tamasi and the Pantomime category for “Black Lives Matter,” featuring Joshua Brown, Lucas Brown, Aiden Bjortvedt, Kaylin Gines, Maya Mills, CJ Rosado, Kaylah Scott, and Hanna Swidler.
Additionally, the Fall Musical, “She Loves Me,” was selected as one of eight shows from across the state to present their entire production at the Festival. On the Friday night of the Festival, the cast and crew reproduced the show in Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center for a sold-out audience which also earned Straight Superior Ratings from the adjudicators who had evaluated it at District competition.
The individuals who earned accolades are Aidan Fracker and Molly Smith. Aidan earned Straight Superior rating and Top Honors in the Solo Musical category for his performance of, “If I Didn’t Believe in You.” For her play “God Bless America,” Molly received Straight Superior ratings for Playwriting.
“We are honored to have so many students’ hard work recognized at the Florida State Thespian Festival,” said Dean Bell, Director of the Arts at Montverde Academy. “Everyone involved in a production invests so much time, energy and heart, that having that work recognized is truly a wonderful accomplishment. I want to thank and recognize Ms. Roberta Emerson and Ms. Kathy Wiebe, as well as the many people involved who made this possible.”
