Stephanie Berson enjoys the experience of the New Jersey Thespian Festival. In fact, the Southern Regional High School senior gets a little bummed knowing others don’t have the opportunity.
“When people have a passion for something like theater, it’s unfortunate when schools don’t appreciate the arts enough to have programs for them,” said Berson, who along with 26 Southern students attended the annual conference and competition at Washington Township High School several weeks ago. “When you go to ThesFest, that’s all it’s about, and when you win awards for your work, you really feel like you’re on top of the world. It feels great knowing all the work you’ve put in was done for a reason. It’s really appreciated at ThesFest.”
When theater instructor Jessica Huch, alongside Keri Watson, launched the Southern chapter of the International Thespian Honor Society, Troupe 9007, part of the intent was to expose Southern students to new realms within the theater community. Hence ThesFest, as Huch refers to it.
“It’s more of a learning experience than a competition, and the students get a lot of great feedback from a variety of people,” Huch said. “I’m a firm believer in educating versatile artists, and that’s what I love about ThesFest. Students are challenged to take things a step farther than the basics, and it’s really neat they can get recognized for the work they do and the effort they put in because they’re so passionate.”
With the opportunity to participate in multiple workshops and classes ranging from Broadway dance to student leadership, technical theater, acting for film, and more, many of Southern’s 27 students in attendance also took part in judged competitions, bringing or developing pieces on site to perform or present.
Among them were Erin Jones, who performed a musical solo of “In My Dreams” from the Broadway musical “Anastasia.”
“The judges score you on expression, musicality and slate, which is mostly about your stage presence and presentation, and a few other things,” said Jones, who also performed a duet with Lily Pollard and was part of the Group Musical Theatre competition, which featured nine Southern students. “This was my second year at the festival, and it was a lot more fun than last year. I knew what to expect going into the performance rooms, and I felt like I was more laid back this time.”
Students who received “superior” marks earned the opportunity to attend and participate in the International Thespian Festival this June at Indiana University.
Besides Berson and Jones, Southern’s winners for Musical Solo also included Sadie Magaziner, Gianna Nese and Pollard, while, in addition to Jones and Pollard, Berson teamed with Kira Kelly to earn superior marks in the Musical Duet category, and Addyson Patrick garnered superior scores in Costume Construction for her costume design that will be featured as part of Southern’s upcoming musical, “State Fair.”
“It’s a 1940s conservative dress. It’s white with poofy sleeves and a blue skirt that’s poofed out a bit. It’s kind of plain, because the character who will be wearing it is kind of conservative,” said Patrick, who had some fun at ThesFest by taking part in several dance classes as well. “I learned a little about time management through this, because I started late and only had two weeks to get the costume done. But I worked really hard, and it worked out for me. It was nice to win an award that big.”
Speaking of big, that’s what the crew of Berson, Jones, Kelly, Magaziner, Trevor Longo, Giada Mangino, Nic Napolitano, Mike Paciello and Logan Transue got themselves into with the Group Musical Theatre competition, for which they performed “On My Way” from the musical “Violet.”
“We worked on it together for a solid month,” Jones said. “We were rehearsing for weeks, and a lot of times skipping our choir class to get together and rehearse. But we did it all together, on our own. It took a lot of teamwork, and it was worth it in the end.”
The group also received the New Jersey Governor’s Award for their effort, as did Patrick for her costume construction. The Governor’s Awards in Arts Education program was established in 1980 by the Alliance for Arts Education and the state Department of Education to celebrate artistic excellence and create visibility, awareness and appreciation for the impact the arts have on our lives and culture by highlighting the achievements of students and leaders in arts education in New Jersey, according to Huch.
Additionally, Longo and Jack Mattern participated in the inaugural FilmWorks category, creating a short film based upon a given prompt within a short deadline, and their film “A Card of Shadows” received the Hitchcock Award for editing.
“We created our Thespian Honor Society during the 2019-20 school year, and this is our third time attending ThesFest,” Huch said. “Our students were prepared. There were more than 60 schools this year, which was a big increase from last year, and our kids are still learning how to navigate the festival and what to include in their pieces, to understand what they’re being scored and critiqued on, so I’m really proud of all of them. They worked hard, and the results were a pleasant surprise.”
— David Biggy
Southern Regional Thespians Rack Up Awards at Annual Festival
