Thirty-six students from the Los Alamitos High School Drama program recently went to the California State Thespian Festival, where they earned an amazing 28 “superiors” and 10 place distinctions in both performance and technical categories.
They had the honor of being selected to perform their one-act play on the main stage of the state competition, and were selected to perform at the national competition which was even a greater achievement.
Griffin Puppet Players Stella Thermos, Kaylie Harrington, Kendallyn Beltran, Sabrina Gludt, Kiley Barker-Taylor and Tara Virgil performed “Pyramus and Thisbe”.
First Place awards went to Improv Team members Nikki Law, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ellie Sims, Michael Schultz, and Simon Martin. Comedy Showcase members were Stella Thermos and Ryan Smith. Miles Gutierrez-Riley won for Monologues, and Mercy Hightower won for Theatre Marketing. Skye Meredith earned Second Place for Makeup Design, as did Shane Ferguson for Sound Design.
Third Places went to Derek Madrid for Set Design, to Sydney DeMaria for Solo Musical, and to Kayla Wiggs and Tara Virgil for Duet Acting.
If students earn a “Superior” rating from the judges, they then qualify to move on to Nationals. Actors Katie Brown-Greaves, Kaitlin Buxton, Cassandra Cianciola, Evan Cusato, Sabrina Gludt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alyssa Hahn,Kaylie Harrington, Nikki Law, Michael Schultz, and Spencer Woolard all rated “Superior” in Monologues.
“Superiors for Solo Musical went to Sydney DeMaria and to Bridget DeMaria, and to Sydney De Maria for Duet Musical.
Five pairs for Duet Acting qualified went to Nikki Law and Alyssa Hahn, Jessie Winslow and Simon Martin, Ellie Sims and Spencer Woolard, Stella Thermos and Keith Ahlstrom, and to Tara Virgil and Kayla Wiggs.
Two teams qualified in the category of Group Acting including teams of Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Jade Kaiser, Ryan Smith, and Katie Brown-Greaves as well as the team of Stella Thermos, Simon Martin, and Alison Parsons.
Tech Theater “Superior” ratings were earned by Oliva Elvidge, Mercy Hightower, Cameron Reed, Skye Meredith, Shane Ferguson, John Fujisawa, and Derek Madrid.
This was indeed an impressive showing by Los Al’s aspiring actors. They’re now looking for sponsorship to go to Nebraska in June for the International Thespian Festival. If you have any leads, please contact Director Stacy Castiglione at scastiglione@losal.org.