Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Production includes "remarkable acting" and "realistic chemistry" according to reviewer Cassidy Wrap. Wrap is part of a special high school program, Cappies, that trains theater critics.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Thirteen people, thirteen sips of homemade Elderberry wine, thirteen lives taken. At the Brewster home, things just aren’t right… for more reasons than one. On Saturday evening, Pattonville High School closed their captivating production of Arsenic & Old Lace. Arsenic & Old Lace, written by Joseph Kesselring, first opened on stage in 1941 and closed in 1944 after 1,444 performances. The story follows two elderly sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster and their nephews, Mortimer, Jonathan and Teddy. Mortimer Brewster’s life changes forever when lifting the family window seat, and discovering a dead body. His dainty aunts decide to come clean with their nephew about their kills and explain the 11 other dead bodies buried in the cellar of the …
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Students from across the state have been chosen to perform in the International Thespian Festival.
The preparation process is long and demanding. The competition is tough. But, the rewards are grand for two Chesterfield high school students. Maddie Frank and Julia Levine, who just graduated from Parkway Central High School, have been chosen to participate in the annual International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. The festival is a weeklong event that includes four different high school performances, learning opportunities for theatre students and educators as well as a playwriting program. There are even auditions for students to earn thespian scholarships. Students must audition to become part of the all-state cast. Even makeup artists and technical crew audition. Directors apply by submitting a proposal for a play they wish to bring…
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Parkway Central High School
369 N Woods Mill Rd, Chesterfield, MO
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Monday, May 23, 2011
Parkway Central took home the Best Play award, while Marquette students won for their performances in "The Three Musketeers."
The Dale Williams Fine Arts Center at Missouri Baptist University was packed with patrons and students attending the Seventh Annual Cappies Awards ceremony Sunday evening. Students, parents, teachers and classmates turned out to see some of the best high school theater students receive awards for their talent and hard work. The Cappies, also known as the Critics and Awards Program, was established in Washington D.C. to promote and celebrate high school theater. Since its inception, it has spread to several states including Missouri. The program awards actors, singers, directors, and technicians, as well as student theater critics who also select the night's award-winners. “The whole thing was very exciting and it was a great experience,” …
Students who were winners in the annual Cappies Awards for theater students and student critics Saturday night were asked to keep their acceptance speeches brief.
Intriguing. That's the single word to describe the one-word acceptance speeches required Sunday night at the annual Cappies awards. In many cases, brevity was the soul of wit. The Cappies, short for the Critics and Awards Program, trains high school theater and journalism students as critics. The student critics attend shows at other schools and write theater reviews, which then are published in local news outlets. At Sunday night's Cappies Awards Gala, the award winners stepped up to the stage to receive their accolades. The one-word speeches were a novelty that kept the show moving along. It also provided inventive students an opportunity to mystify the audience with their cryptic one liners. Here's a selection of the one-word speeches …
High school theatres from across St. Louis gathered at the Missouri Baptist University Fine Arts Center for the Cappies awards show.
High schools from across the St. Louis area pulled out all the stops Sunday night at the seventh annual Cappies Gala, an award show recognizing theatrical talent. The Cappies, short for the Critics and Awards Program, trains high school theater and journalism students as critics. The student critics attend shows at other schools and write theater reviews, which then are published in local news outlets. At the end of the year, the critics vote for awards that are presented at the formal Cappie Awards Gala. Now in its sixth season, the St. Louis Cappies includes 17 private and public high schools from St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties. The schools, including Parkway Central and Marquette high schools, competed for awards, …
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The annual gala recognizes students' achievements on their high school stages.
Sunday night, St. Louis-area high school-aged girls will don dresses while their male counterparts suit up. They'll make final adjustments to hair and makeup or ties before posing for photos. But they aren't preparing for prom. Instead, they'll walk a red carpet and have their own version of a Hollywood awards show: a night of theater, song and dance that celebrates their accomplishments on the stage this school year. They're headed to the Cappie Awards. The Cappies, short for the Critics and Awards Program, trains high school theater and journalism students as critics. The student critics attend shows at other schools and write theater reviews, which then are published in local news outlets. At the end of the year, the critics vote for …
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Parkway Central High School
369 N Woods Mill Rd, Chesterfield, MO
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Marquette High School
2351 Clarkson Rd, Chesterfield, MO
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Thursday, April 28, 2011
The student-directed play follows a young girl after she falls into a strange world.
Two Parkway West High School students are getting to try their hand at directing a play, which they say has been stressful at times but overwhelmingly worth the experience. Seniors Billy Nease, of St. Louis, and Megan Hawkins, of Ballwin, will see their hard work come alive on the stage when Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland opens Thursday night. The pair has worked with their cast of about 30 students for the past six weeks to bring the popular children’s tale about the girl who fell down a rabbit hole and into a very strange land to the stage. This week, when dress rehearsals began, it all came together. “Seeing (the actors) in costume, and how they really, really came to life…It’s like a real-life cartoon,” Nease said. Neither Nease nor…
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14653 Clayton Rd, Ballwin, MO
Parkway West High School
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Eight Parkway Central High School seniors have directed a one-act play from start to finish. The plays will be performed Wednesday and Thursday evening.
Actors performing the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales. A visit from a high school sweetheart. A case of a cheating fiancé. A family sorting through a will and its instructions. A marriage sham to placate a mother. A man who learns his family is not what it seems. Oh, and two lobsters in a tank at a seafood restaurant discussing life and death. All these tales will hit the Parkway Central High School stage Wednesday and Thursday. However, the one-act plays aren’t a typical high school theater production. Each one is directed from start to finish by a high school senior. It’s a big undertaking, drama teacher Nicole Voss said. Eight students took on the challenge this year as part of a class. They view the class as a sort of culmination of…
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Parkway Central High School
369 N Woods Mill Rd, Chesterfield, MO
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
The student actors said they studied past productions of the show to get into character.
It surprised even their choreographer, but the boys in John F. Kennedy Catholic High School's production of Oklahoma! can dance. They're doing more than just jazz squares, too. Heel clicks, the do-si-do, choreographed skirmishes and more are all a part of their repretoire. "Often I choreograph things in my head, and it doesn't necessarily come out looking like that," Associate Stage Director and choreographer KC Creely said. "This, though, this looks like it looked in my head." She thinks the song "Kansas City," which allows the male chorus to show off its dance moves, will be a crowd favorite. The boys aren't the only all-stars in this show, though. Creely said her parents, producer-director team Jac and Susan Slivka, picked Oklahoma! …
Friday, March 4, 2011
After weeks of preparing for the high energy musical, which is chock full of songs, the Marquette High School theater group is ready for its Friday premiere.
Audiences can expect a sweet slice of Broadway to grace a West County stage when Marquette High School starts its run of the musical Hairspray this weekend. Originally a 1988 John Waters film, Hairspray tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a character with a big build and bigger dreams. The 1960s Baltimore teenager aspires to be a dancer on the sock-hop style TV program “The Corny Collins Show.” The show is about more than dancing, though. It teaches acceptance. “When I saw it on Broadway, I fell in love with it,” said Judi Greene, the theater director at Marquette and the show's overall supervisor. She said the greatest appeal of "Hairspray" is no doubt its message. In fact, as part of the production, Greene and the cast discussed times …
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Marquette High School
2351 Clarkson Rd, Chesterfield, MO
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Debbie Corbin
5:26 pm on Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Great way to update the public on great things kids are involved in.... Debbie Corbin, Branson High, Missouri State Thespian chapter director more ›