Thespian Troupe #1966
Temple High School, Temple TX

Bonham Middle School won the UIL Middle School One-Act Play contest on Saturday, February 13, in the Temple High School auditorium. The contest was hosted by the Temple High Theatre Arts Department.

Bonham's production of "The Purple Fan," directed by Amy Medina, was awarded first prize by Critic Judge Kelly Parker. The other competitors included Lamar Middle School with "The Wind in the Willows," directed Denise Larsen, and Travis Middle School with "The Emperor's Nightingale," directed by Suzanne Housewright.

Kinsey Boyd (Bonham) was named best actress in the contest and Chris Kleypas (Bonham) was named best actor. Named to the all-star cast were Spencer Mathesen, Angelica Pippins and John Utterback (Lamar), Remington Kent, Bonnie Langthorn and Jared Smith (Bonham) and Azante Madrigal and John Carlos Strickland (Travis).

The honorable mention all-star cast included Kirin Abel, Donivan Anderson, Levi Maynard and Athena Morton (Lamar), Patrick Speights (Bonham) and Jeremy Dedrick, Caley Parsons and Carley Thies (Travis). 

Critic Judge Parker, who is on the theatre faculty of McLennan Community College, has been involved in the performing arts for the last 15 years. After completing the theatre program at McLennan, he earned his BFA in Performance from Baylor University and his MFA in Acting/Directing from Texas Tech University. Mr. Parker has acted and directed professionally in numerous productions throughout Texas and in New York. Rachel Aker served as contest manager.

The three schools will repeat performances of their three contest entries in a showcase on Tuesday, February 16, at 7 p.m. in the high school auditoriuim. Admission for the showcase will be $3 per person and the performance order will be Lamar, Bonham and Travis.

On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost's residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend — almost — in this delightful midwinter night's dream.

This "new romantic comedy" was presented Thursday-Saturday (January 28-30) at 8 p.m. and Sunday (January 31) at 2 p.m. The audience was seated on the stage with the actors (in a "black box" setting). Tickets will be $7 in advance and $10 at the door.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the show. We were sold out at our final two performances.

CLICK HERE = Cast of characters, production staff and posters/artwork from the show.

FEBRUARY 11 -- PHOTOS POSTED in our Snapfish Group.  CLICK HERE to go to Snapfish.
You can also order prints of these photos from Sam's Club and pick up in the store. CLICK HERE for the Sam's album.

Trenton Schneiders (left) and Shannon Graham in a scene from "Almost, Maine."

UPDATE: Snapfish and YouTube have been updated with convention photos and videos. More Snapfish photos added November 23.

Temple High School theatre students advanced in nine events at the annual Texas State Thespian Festival in Corpus Christi, November 19-22. They will compete at the International Thespian Festival June 21-26, 2010, at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Last year, Temple advanced in eight events and won the international competition in Theatre Marketing and Stage Management, was in the Top 2 teams for Duet Pantomime, and was in the Final Four for Group Musical.

The following events advanced to the international contest:
Monologue = Mikah Young
*Duet Acting = Maddie Kleypas and Lexie Tankersley
*Group Acting = Sean Fisher, Kat Pasichnyk and Rachel Ann Stonestreet
Duet Musical Theatre = Shannon Graham and Gloria Matthews
Scenic Design = James Roeder
Theatre Marketing = Anya Godigamuwe
Sound Design = Joel Williams
Stage Management = Samantha Sheffer
Group Musical = "Run, Freedom, Run"
   *Indicates a finalist for appearance on the main stage before the entire convention.

Unfortunately, Temple students did not advance in solo musical, duet pantomime, costume design or lighting design.

Temple's Texas Techie Relay Team (Allison Mesecke, Annie Sorge, James Roeder and Evan Wright) won 2nd place in the state in their contest. The Techie Relay contest had 55 teams enter the competition, so getting 2nd place is a tremendous accomplishment for these four students. The only school to do better was the 1st place winner, Seven Lakes High School.

Team Make-up Design (Alex Anderson, Maddie Kleypas, Ravin Jackson and Annie Sorge) and Mask Making (Alison Clifton) both received Honorable Mention awards.

Out of the 149 troupes that were registered at the convention, only eight troupes were named as "All-Star Troupes" and Temple was one of the eight. This year's state convention had 3,209 people registered (2,813 students and 396 adults).

During the convention, open auditions were held for an "All-State Show" that will be performed next November (2010) at the annual meeting. Only 29 students were cast, and all three of Temple's auditioners (Gloria Matthews, Spencer Tolleson and Mikah Young) were cast. The group begins rehearsals in January 2010 and will meet several times during 2010, including a week-long workshop next summer. Only one other school in the entire state (The Woodlands) had more students cast in the show. They had seven students audition and five were cast. 

Natasha Tolleson taught the workshop "Marketing Your Program and Your Production" three times on Friday, November 20. James Roeder, Samantha Sheffer and Joel Williams all served on the "honor crew" to assist with technical work on the marathon shows.

Trenton Schneiders and Samantha Sheffer interviewed with many colleges and universities and received many callback requests during the convention.