Awarded Superiors for their ratings at districts, the theater troupe has been qualified for states this week in Tampa because of their achievements at district level. The competition is statewide and has over 8000 students competing for a prize. Students will be leaving Wednesday morning and coming back Saturday night. The group has decided to bring a small group musical, two large group acts, a pantomime, and a couple more acts. Unlike the other productions, a pantomime is like miming, with no spoken words, all facial expressions and movements, almost similar to dance. Seniors Moses Chavez-Gray and Lauren McMillan have both been eagerly preparing for these events.

The pantomime they will be performing is a bit nerve wracking according to Chavez-Gray, especially since it was the critique’s choice. “Since the pantomime was the critique’s choice, we will be performing in front of thousands of people, and with it being states the stakes are higher for each event when performing for adjudication. This is definitely helping and giving me good experience, especially since this is something I want to pursue in college. I can learn from performing in front of big crowds and experience high pressure conditions. I recently got into Fordham’s theater program, but I won’t know about other colleges until the end of March, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I hope to get into and attend NYU Tisch school of the arts for acting,” Chavez-Gray said.

Chavez-Gray will be performing the Pantomime with the troupe for opening ceremonies, twice on Wednesday night and once on Friday afternoon for state judges. He is then performing a duet acting on Saturday at noon for judges. The troupes other events will be performed one time each throughout the state festival time slot.

McMillan is performing in a small group musical called “On My Way” from the musical Violet. The production won best of show at districts and will be performed at states for judging also. McMillan says she feels confident about how the troupe will do with their performances. “Even though it can be nerve wracking performing in front of judges, it is always fun putting the events together. I definitely think that they are just as important as everything else we have done this year. The pantomime being performed tells a story, and has background music to set the scene. These events have been very helpful in my pursuit for college theater programs. I always learn a lot from doing the shows, and i actually put this on my college resume. I talked about this at some of my interviews/auditions as well. I personally don’t get too nervous anymore because it’s so fun,” McMillan said.

By Anna Wilder