It’s award season! Bottom, left; Violet Rainwater is given a special sewing kit by Susan Blurton in recognition of her technical achievements. Also in the photo is Angela Delsanter. Above, left to right; Kyler Rabourn, Skylar Abookire, Lucy Schalz, Ande Hammers, Noah Turner, Rowan Harper, Lucas Schalz, Zach Weiner, Townes Bakke, Ben Nichols, Natalie Taylor, Mia Milwicz-Clanton, Ivy Brundege, Annabel Ivey, and Blue Garcia-Paine celebrate their achievements in theater as a group. PHOTO BY ANGELA DELSANTER[/caption]

On Monday, May 9, 2022, Nederland Middle-Senior High School (NMSHS) celebrated student achievements in theater throughout the course of the year with an awards ceremony. The night began with a series of thank yous to the directors, student directors, actors, technicians, parents, and community. Special thanks were given to the parents, especially those of graduating seniors, before transitioning into a celebration of the crew behind the fall plays and spring musical.

Select students were able to celebrate their achievements at the Colorado Thespian Conference in December of 2021: Skylar Abookire for an Excellent rating in a solo musical performance and Townes Bakke and Rowan Harper for an Excellent rating in a duo acting performance. After that, new members of the International Thespian Society were sworn in.

The night continued by celebrating the 2021 fall plays, first by thanking the student directors (Natalie Taylor, Ivy Brundege, Lucy Schalz, Skylar Abookire, Zach Weiner, Ben Nichols, Townes Bakke, and Rowan Harper) before giving out the acting awards. Charlie Rawlins won the award for Supporting Actor in a Male Role, Ruby Gustafson won Supporting Actor in a Female Role, Ben Weber won Best Actor in a Male Role, and Ande Hammers won Best Actor in a Female Role.

After celebrating the fall plays, the awards for the spring musical, Guys and Dolls, were given out. Directors were honored and volunteers were thanked before technical awards were given out. Zach Weiner won Technical Director of the Year, Lucas Schalz won Technician of the Year, Natalie Taylor won Stage Manager of the Year, and Lauren Dirr and Amelie Badnar won Rookie of the Year.

After that, various awards were given out celebrating the individual achievements of each actor for the spring musical. Noah Turner won the Dance Award, Mason Ivey won the Ready, Willing and Able Oscar, Aiden Cleveland won the Teachable and Adaptable Oscar, Rowan Harper won the Oh, What A Character Oscar, and Ivey, Harper, Lucy Schalz, Maggie Lake, Turner, Ande Hammers, Sierra Tomlinson, and Ben Nichols won the Best Ensemble Award.

The night ended with acting awards given out to celebrate the spring musical. Tyler Goodnow won Supporting Actor in a Male Role, Blue Garcia-Paine won Supporting Actor in a Female Role, Kyler Rabourn and Townes Bakke won Best Actor in a Male Role, and Skylar Abookire and Annabel Ivey won Best Actor in a Female Role.

Throughout the entire night, the theater program at NMSHS was celebrated as being a place of escape and solace for both the people involved behind the scenes and the community that comes to support the program. The students were given a chance to shine and feel accomplished in their achievements and also to cheer on their colleagues for being celebrated. After two years of insanity surrounding the COVID pandemic, with a canceled performance of Urinetown in 2020 and a masked performance of Grease in 2021, a returning sense of normalcy with unmasked performances of both the fall plays and the spring musical felt amazing to celebrate, and it was most certainly a night never to be forgotten.