21 theater students advance to national competition
By Emmalee Barnes and Audrey Ramos, Staff Writers
After going to the Texas Thespian festival and having 25 CCS theater students compete across six categories, 21 have advanced to go to International Thespian Festival in Bloomington, Indiana, along with three middle school theater students that advanced on the junior level.
The festival will take place at the University of Indiana this summer. The students will compete in their categories, participate in workshops and make connections throughout the national theater community. Director Tanisha Smith and Assistant Director Bryan Campbell will accompany the troupe on the trip. Below are the students who advanced and what categories they are competing in:
Solo Musical
- Noah Padilla
- Emmalee Barnes
- Mikayla Lujan
- Lillian Garcia
- Israel Chapman
- Ethan Maldonado
- Katie Long (Jr. Level)
- Saydee Rogers (Jr. Level)
- Matilda de la Garza (Jr. Level)
Contrasting Monologues
- Jordan Japhet
Monologue
- Aranza Carbonell
Duet Musical
- Audrey Ramos & Evie Pflug
- Emmanuel Sanchez & River Sauceda
- Noah Padilla & Emmalee Barnes
- Mason Novogradac & Reagan Dadfar
Duet Acting
- Arianna Smith & Megan Rohlmeier
- Brady Campbell & Josiah Garza
- Andrew Puente & Aaron Armstrong
- Aranza Carbonell & Marissa Minneci
Short Film
- Ethan Maldonado
Several students are excited to be returning to the festival for a second year.
“I’m excited because it’s a great learning opportunity,” said senior Noah Padilla. “There’s a lot of opportunities for learning more about singing, acting, dancing . . . and the shows are really enjoyable.”
Other students will be attending the festival for the first time and are looking forward to similarities to the state festival.
“I really liked all the workshops, and I really liked going to the dancing one,” said sophomore Reagan Dadfar. “It’s just really cool to see all the different ways theater can be experienced.”
Overall, directors and students were pleasantly surprised at the number of students that advanced to the national competition.
“I’m so impressed,” Smith said. “I’m not sure what the numbers have been in the past. I know that we’ve always shown well, but I was just blown away by the level of talent this year.”
Photo by Maryn Villarreal
