Eighteen High School Drama Program students joined more than 870 attendees at the recent New York State Theatre Education Association’s annual Student Conference in Callicoon, where senior Hana Ebbert earned special recognition because her short play, “A Self Portrait,” was selected as a winning entry in the Playwriting Showcase.
The conference gave students an opportunity to increase their knowledge about the theater world while attending workshops given by colleges, universities and other Broadway and theater professionals.
As part of being selected as a Playwriting Showcase winning play, Hanna attended several one-on-one editing meetings with a playing writing specialist to refine her work. Later, each school selected one student to audition to be a performer in the winning plays. Students auditioned, rehearsed for about two hours, and then performed the plays to the all conference attendees.
Senior Gavin McGinnis was selected as a performer for “Courtroom Chaos,” one of the other showcase’s winning plays; with Junior Logan Hujus selected as one of the stage crew members.
“For the student conference delegates, this is a highlight of their high school career,” said High School Drama Club Director Laura Hulle, who noted it’s the sixth year Minisink Valley students have attended. “Each session provided students with an interactive and hands-on experience where they were completely immersed into that topic.”
The five workshops that students attended were among over 100 offerings covering just about every aspect of the theater world, including lighting and sound design, acting, character development, voice acting, vocal performance, song and play writing, dance instruction and more.
Broadway actress McKenzie Kurtz, who appeared as Anna from “Frozen,” Galinda from “Wicked” and Heather Chandler from “Heathers” spoke to the students about her journey to becoming a Broadway performer, reminding them: "You can’t move forward by looking sideways.”
“This conference gave our students the opportunity to meet and share interests with other similarly-minded students from every region of New York State which is paramount in working collaboratively, gaining self-confidence and exploring new areas of learning,” added Mrs. Hulle. “It is a truly amazing weekend that inspires, motivates and educates our students in every aspect of theater."
Attendees were:
