Roosevelt, East Honored at Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards
Click the above photo to see more from the first annual Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards ceremony.
Last night it was showtime at the Des Moines Civic Center as Des Moines Performing Arts staged the first annual Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards.
DMPS was well-represented and brought home lots of hardware and accolades at the end of the evening.
Nine schools from around Central Iowa were selected to participate in the inaugural showcase based on scores tallied throughout the year by adjudicators from the arts community who attended their shows and watched with the critic’s eye for detail and nuance, both onstage and off.
Roosevelt was honored for its production of Chicago: A Vaudeville Musical and so was East, for its production of A Little Shop of Horrors.
During the program each of the nine schools presented a scene from their production wrapped around the presentation of their awards.
Roosevelt collected the following “Tonys for Teens:”
- Outstanding Musical Production
- Outstanding Ensemble
- Outstanding Student Orchestra
- Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role: Madeline Palmer-Chase as Velma Kelly and Emma Terrell as Roxie Hart
- Special Recognition for a Performance in a Leading Role: Dmitri McDonald as “Billy Flynn” (Dmitri was injured the week of the show last November and, in the true spirit of “the show must go on,” he performed in a boot cast with a classy cane that was right in character).
- Outstanding Performance in Supporting Role: Hannah Carlson as Mary Sunshine
East’s turn in the spotlight yielded this haul:
- Outstanding Student Orchestra
- Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role: Jake Biegger as Seymour
- Outstanding Performance in Supporting Role: Jonathon James, John Fudge, and Cody Worthington; Voice and Puppeteers of Audrey II and Ryan Skow as Orin Scrivello
- Outstanding Achievement by a Student Choreographer: Sarah Bennett for “Ya Never Know” and “Somewhere That’s Green”
The culmination of the evening was announcement of the winners of the coveted Triple Threat awards. One male and one female from each state with exceptional potential as singers, actors and dancers are named to represent their states in the National High School Musical Theater Awards next month in New York City. The winners were chosen based on auditions and interviews conducted during the production of last night’s glittering event.
Roosevelt’s Madeline Palmer Chase was named runner-up for Iowa’s female Triple Threat and Joe McDonald of Roosevelt and Emily Sherwood of East were named winners of scholarships to the Civic Center’s STAGEright Broadway Experience, an intensive week-long summer camp for teens with advanced skills in singing, dancing or acting taught by visiting Broadway performers. If you know the Chicago storyline you can appreciate the irony of “Mr. Cellophane” drawing such notice.
“They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.” And so are the prospects of the star-studded theatrical troupes at Roosevelt and East.
