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Canterbury Junior Thespians Win Multiple Awards at State Festival
Canterbury School’s Junior Thespian Troupe 89393 enjoyed another stellar performance at the 2019 Junior State Thespian Festival in Orlando on January 31 - February 3, 2019.
Canterbury was selected as our District Critics' Choice to be one of just 15 shows from around the state to perform at the Chapin Theatre during the festival in Orlando. After a dynamic performance of “Izzy Icarus Fell Off the World”, the judges met with the cast backstage to judge the technical and performance aspects of the show. They praised the cast of Julian V. ’23, Ellie A. ’24, Arianna A. ’24, and Christian D. ’24 for their stellar acting choices and commitment to their roles. They especially loved the choice of refreshing and challenging material. They also heaped generous praise on the technical crew, commenting on the artistic lighting of Maddie C. ’23, the professional sound bed created by Zach M. ’23 and the professional stage management of Zach B. ’24 and his crew with Josh D. ’23 and Jake Z. ’23.
The judges' comments were reflected in their scores. The performance was awarded the highest honor, a trophy for SUPERIOR One Act Performance and a trophy for SUPERIOR One Act Technical Production. They were one of just four out of the 15 shows to win double SUPERIOR. In addition, Arianna A. ’24 won a medal for All-Star Cast Best Actress in a One Act and Zack B. ’24 won an All-Star Crew in a One Act for his stage management. Additionally, the nine-member cast and crew will all receive SUPERIOR medals.
Our students competed in twelve individual events with more than 4,000 other middle schoolers from around the state. Twelve is the maximum number of individual events allowed to move on from district competition. A panel of three judges in each event rates the performances as Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent or Superior. Pieces rated Excellent or Superior receive a medal and represent only the top tier of performances at State.
Just like last year, every single Canterbury student and performance earned an award of either Excellent or Superior and brought home a medal!
In Scene Writing, Giana D. ’25 and Anika K. ’25 earned SUPERIOR medals for their original play "I Love You Sissy LaLa".
In Duet Acting, Ezri M. ’23 and Mack F. ’23 earned EXCELLENT medals for their scene.
In Solo Musical, Luke C. ’24 earned a SUPERIOR medal for his performance of "Red Ryder Action Carbine BB Gun" and Lauren L. ’23 also earned a SUPERIOR medal for her performance of "Wait a Bit".
In Set Design, Ava C.’24 won EXCELLENT for her design of the play "You Can't Take it with You" and Nadia M. ’24 won EXCELLENT for her design for the musical "Honk".
In Publicity Design, Parker E. ’25 earned a SUPERIOR for his poster, ticket, and program design for "To Kill a Mockingbird".
In Ensemble Acting, the team of Jasmine S. ’23, Saige S. ’24, Ezri M. ’23, Jersey H. ’23, Kayla G. ’23, Vanajah J. ’23, Mack F. ’23, and Diego M. ’23 won EXCELLENT for "Is it Time Yet". The team of Lorelei D. ’24, Michaela F. ’24, Gianna L. ’24, and Delaney F. ’24 won EXCELLENT for "The Shallow End". Lucy C, ’24, Elle E. ’23, Matthew D. ’23, and Jake Z. ’23 won EXCELLENT medals for "Rocky Junction Rumor". Capping off the ensembles was the team of Neal V. ’23, Julian V. ’23, Zack B. ’24, and Josh D. ’23 who earned a SUPERIOR with "Cellphone Zombies".
In Pantomime Acting, Ellie M. ’25 and Giana D. ’25 won medals of SUPERIOR for the original pantomime scene "The Makeover".
For the State Festival, Canterbury’s Junior Thespian Troupe 89393 brought home 42 medals, at least one for each of the 33 students who competed, and three trophies for the theatre department. Founded just two and a half years ago, our Junior Thespian Troupe was chartered by and is under the direction of Canterbury’s Academic Dean and Arts Director, Dr. William Eyerly.
