The High School Musical Theatre Awards take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 9 at the Barbara B Mann Performing Art Hall at FSW. Patterned after the Tony Awards, the evening features performances by each participating school, along with awards in a number of categories, including Best Overall Production, Best Ensemble and Best Actor and Supporting Actor in both Male-Identifying and Female-Identifying roles.
Eight area schools are taking part in the Awards this year.
· Bishop Verot High School, performing numbers from the musical “Curtains;”
· Canterbury School, with a medley from “Shrek;”
· Cypress Lake High School, with a performance of “It’s Your Wedding Day” from “The Wedding Singer;”
· Gateway High School with “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown;”
· Ida S. Baker High School with a mash-up of the ensemble numbers “What I Was Born to Do” and “Cross the Line” from “Bring It On;”
· Island Coast High School with “Lightning Thief;”
· North Fort Myers High School with a medley of four songs from “Pippin”; and
· Oasis Charter with numbers from “Addams Family.”
Barbara B. Mann General Manager Scott Saxon started the Awards in 2008 to celebrate local high school actors, orchestras, their musical productions and the hard work those students do every year.
The awards are open to the public and tickets are on sale at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall box office.
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Students spend months working on their productions, rehearsing songs and dance steps, designing and painting sets, sewing costumes and doing everything else it takes to put on a show. Most schools start working on their productions in the fall and rehearse all year – including after school and on weekends - until they present their shows in March or April. The High School Musical Theatre Awards celebrate their hard work and achievements.
The event is modeled after the Tony Awards. Winners are announced for each category interspersed with lively production numbers from the shows.
Bishop Verot High School will be performing numbers from the musical “Curtains.” Here's the set up: At the Colonial Theatre in 1959, the cast of Robbin’ Hood takes their bows on opening night. Just as the curtain falls, so does Jessica Cranshaw, the profoundly untalented leading lady of the production. Enter Lieutenant Frank Cioffi, a fast-talking cop with a love for musical theatre. He quarantines the cast and crew inside the theatre while he searches for clues. But Cioffi doesn’t just investigate the murder--he also offers advice and insight into improving Robbin’ Hood. The musical will open again in 24 hours with a new leading lady, so the clock is ticking to find the killer and put on a killer show. Hear this mash-up of the show on YouTube.
Under the direction of theater director and teacher Lisa Clark, Bishop Verot Theater performs a variety of straight plays and musicals that feature in excess of 50 students. Past productions have included “Mary Poppins” (which won “Outstanding Ensemble” at the 2024 HSMTA), “The Addams Family Musical,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Grease: The School Version” and “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” Bishop Verot is a member of the SWFL Theatrical Society, and Bishop Verot High School Thespian Troupe 6159 is a part of the International Thespian Society, an organization that recognizes students for their exceptional participation in theater.
Canterbury School will feature “Shrek” at this year’s HSMTA. Canterbury School’s theatre program provides a comprehensive education in the art of performing, the history of the stage, and technical aspects of theatre. Under the guidance and direction of Catherine Truesdale, Aaron Jackson and Michael Lynch, Canterbury thespians showcase their abilities at several events throughout the year, which are highly anticipated by students, faculty and members of the Southwest Florida community. “Mean Girls” and “Elf the Musical” are among the shows that Canterbury has produced in past years. “Elf” was named Outstanding Overall Production in 2023, which just goes to show that good things happen when you make it shinyshowycheerykinkle razzledazzleringalingle.
Cypress Lake High School will perform “It’s Your Wedding Day” from “The Wedding Singer,” which features ‘80s rock star wannabe and wedding singer Robbie Heart, who is left heartbroken when his own wedding plans go awry. He ruins every wedding he plays at until he connects with Julia, a pretty young waitress who dreams of her own perfect wedding. There’s just one problem: she’s already engaged to Glen, a rich, shallow Wall Street broker. When Julia elopes with Glen to Las Vegas, Robbie decides to play the gig of his life to win her heart and her hand in marriage. (View a clip from the show here.)
The theatre program at Cypress Lakes reflects the formidable skills and considerable experience of theatre director and teacher Carmen Crussard, who also directs the Alliance Youth Theatre. Cypress Lake performed a medley from “Holiday Inn” last year and “Big Fish” in 2023. Cypress Lake took best musical honors at the inaugural HSMTAs for their performance of “All Shook Up.”
Gateway High School brings “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” to this year’s HSMTA. Gateway High School is home to a growing Theater Program, offering a progression of multiple levels in which students learn performance, technical, and production skills. Students in Theater 1 gain confidence in performing on stage in front of an audience with improv, monologues, and partner pieces. Set and costume design are included as an introduction to technical theater. The Eagle Theater Company rehearses after school for competitions, showcases and multiple plays a year. Students in the theater program learn to support each other and enjoy being part of a tight-knit community.
Ida S. Baker High School brings to the Barbara B. Mann a mash-up of the ensemble numbers “What I Was Born to Do” and “Cross the Line” from their production of “Bring It On.” Lia Jaquez is Campbell; Gabriella Santiago plays Danielle; Sophia Portier is Skylar; Emily Berlanga Campos is Kylar; and Kameryn Gardner is Eva. (Listen to an audio clip here.) Theatre Director Sarah Jones says that her personal goal at each year’s HSMTA is to “keep as many students on stage as possible in order to give them that show-stopping, professional theatre experience.”
The Ida S. Baker High School offers a medley of courses in which students can study and learn various elements of theater, musical theater and technical theater throughout all four years of high school. Last year, Ida Baker took runner-up honors for Overall Production of a Musical for “Beauty and the Beast.” In 2023, Ida Baker performed a crowd-pleasing medley of songs from their production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” including an excerpt from “Feed Me (Git It),” featuring the insatiably blood-thirsty plant Audrey and her hapless horticulturalist Seymour.
Island Coast High School will perform numbers from “Lightning Thief.” Rachel Davis directs. In 2024, Island Coast performed a medley from “Mean Girls” and numbers from “Matilda” in 2023. “Mean Girls” was the largest show that Island Coast Theatre Department had done in several years, with 37 scene changes, dozens of quick changes, and so much more,” theatre director Rachel Davis noted.
Under the director of Miguel Cintron, Lehigh Senior High School will feature a medley of numbers from “Hadestown Teen Edition,” including “Way Down Hadestown,” “Chant” and “Wait for Me.” In 2023, Lehigh Senior performed a complexly choreographed, richly harmonic mash-up of numbers from “Footloose.”
North Fort Myers High School brings a medley from “Pippin” that includes “Corner of the Sky,” “Magic To Do,” “Simple Joys” and “Morning Glow,” with Tyler Scott in the title role, Mia Zottolo (last year’s runner-up for Best Supporting Performer in a Female-Identifying Role) as The Leading Player, Rilyn Dick as Fastrada and Jay Encalada as Catherine.
Under the direction of Janelle Laux, North Fort Myers High theater students receive intensive training in acting, directing, design, and technical theatre. The course of study includes opportunities in acting, voice, and diction, mime and movement, improvisation, directing and playwriting, stage make-up, theatre technology, theatre history, vocal techniques, dance, musical theatre, and other classes. Earlier this year, North produced “Six the Musical.” North Fort Myers High’s production of “All Shook Up” was selected as the 2024 Best Overall Production (also winning the award for Technical Achievement and Best Ensemble), and was runner up for Best Orchestra, with its tap-heavy production of “Anything Goes” being named Outstanding Overall Production runner-up at the 2023 High School Musical Theatre Awards.
Oasis Charter School brings “Addams Family” to this year’s HSMTA. The Oasis Shark Theatre Company will perform “When You’re an Addams” and “Crazier Than You.” Tristen Espaillat is Gomez; Emily Feichthaler is Morticia; Isabella Chica plays Wednesday; and Viktor Sweeney is Fester. Theatre Director Carrie Guffy launched the program six years ago. While she characterizes her company as a “diamond in the rough,” Oasis’ theatre arts program is now “worth taking notice of.” The program’s focus is education, and all of its shows are student run. “My job is to educate these incredibly talented students, not do it for them, but to guide them towards excellence,” Guffy said.
The awards are open to the public. Tickets are just $10.
For more on last year’s HSMTA, hear/read “High school theater awards show depth of local scholastic talent.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.