Thespian Troupe #1966
Temple High School, Temple TX

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.