Twenty-five students, coached by theatre director Rodney Franz, from Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School competed in Ohlone College’s 18th Annual High School Theatre Festival in Fremont on March 16th and 17th. Over 60 schools, from as far away as Nevada City, participated. Only high school Sophomores, Juniors & Seniors were allowed to perform.
Each student is allowed to compete in two separate events. All contestants from every school compete twice in their categories before two sets of judges. The performers with the highest marks are then asked to perform once again to determine the over-all winners calculated by the accumulated points from all of their performances. Eighteen out of twenty-one Marin School of the Arts entries were called back to perform. MSA won 12 awards. Here are the results:
The Judges’ Sweepstakes (Revolving Festival Trophy) given to the one school with the highest number of points per students entered.
1st Place Humorous One-Act Play – William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Taylor Brindley, Danny Eggert, Lara Garay, Evan Held, Ani Mack & James Witous
1st Place Maxi Musical Theatre with a large cast over 11 — Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado with Liat Cohen, Spencer Dominy, Lily Hahn, Kyleigh Hoye, Brittany Kenyon, Sam Levy, Kaitlyn McEowen, Madison Milliner, Emma Palace, Cierra Potter, Samantha Roberts & Kimmie Swanson
3rd Place Contemporary Dramatic Monologue – Alison Aulakh for Catherine Sloper, The Heiress
1st Place Women’s Classical Dramatic Monologue Lara Garay – Lady Anne, Richard III
2nd Place Women’s Classical Dramatic Monologue – Samantha Roberts for Polyxena in Hecuba
1st Place Women’s Classical Humorous Monologue – Alexandra Moon, Mabel Chiltern, An Ideal Husband
2nd Place Women’s Contemporary Humorous Ensemble – Alicia Kraft & Cooper Nelson, Parallel Lives
2nd Place Men’s Classical Humorous Ensemble – Misha Kuklin & James Witous, The Mandrake
Award for Outstanding Monitor, Brennan Jantzen
$1,600 Scholarship Young Actors Theatre Camp – James Witous (offered to only 1 student at the entire festival!!)
Partial Scholarship Young Actors Theatre Camp – Cooper Nelson & Alicia Kraft