Over spring break, Osceola’s Thespian Troupe #3507 went to the Florida Senior Thespian State Festival with 13 students. Most students attended four days of the competition, joining hundreds of other students from other schools with drama programs in the state. The students originally attended a three-day competition for Pinellas County, the competition called Thespians Districts. Performers that did well enough in their presentations were able to continue on to the higher-level competition. The four-day States competition was held in Tampa with masterclasses from professionals, mainstage performances to watch, and individual events from students all over the state. Similar to districts, the scores range from Poor to Superior.
Haley Broderick and Victorya Santos preformed in a duet song entitled “Casting Call for a Best Friend” by Rob Rokicki at the District’s Thespians Festival and received a superior from adjudicators there. When they moved on to the Thespians State Festival they were “buzzing with excitement,” according to Santos. The four-day festival was an experience that “taught us invaluable lessons that we can use in theater for future involvement in theater,” says Broderick. The other duet that was preformed was by Angelina Walker and Logan Taber who performed “This World Will Remember Us” from the Musical Bonnie & Clyde by Frank Wildhorn and Don Black. The two took the performance to the Districts Festival in the fall where they received a very high excellent as well as noted to improve their performance. Afterwards, they worked “every week to improve our performance,” says Angelina Walker.
Maryane Santos, Kate Murphy, Sam Cressman, and Victorya Santos preformed a scene that was student directed by Jasmarie Oliveras from the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. The four performers worked with Oliveras since the fall and preformed on the Districts Festival stage in front of hundreds of others students. The scene received ‘Critics Choice’ at the Districts Festival, the title is the highest honor a performance can receive at the Districts Festival.
Osceola Warriors showed their talent and their dedication to theater throughout Spring Break. The festival that started on Wednesday at seven a.m. ended near nine p.m. on Saturday night. Most performers took four days from their Spring Break to dedicate to theater, a display of commitment.
