Central Thespians to Take National Stage

Fifteen students from Central High School have qualified to advance on to Nationals after competing at the State Thespian Festival.

“There were about 4,500 students there,” Laura Smith, the theatre teacher at CHS, said of the competition.

Central’s group performed “Façade” from the musical “Jekyll and Hyde”. The performers were chosen for finals and then chosen as the only group musical to perform during the conference's closing ceremony.

The duet musical and solo musical performers from Central were also chosen to compete at the national level in June at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Smith said the students have been preparing for this competition since the first day of school.

Sean Gibbons, a senior at CHS, performed in the group musical portion of the competition. He said, “We went in with a lot of confidence. We knew we had strong piece but the moment we found out that we had made number one, I’m not sure if it was so much surprise or what, but there was an overwhelming emotion.”

Gibbons said, “Everyone just dropped their head and started crying.”

Michaela Montez, a junior, has been involved in theatre since the sixth grade. She moved to the San Angelo Independent School district this year.

She said, “Coming to Central has given me so much opportunity.”

For Ashley Terrill, this is her second year moving on to Nationals. However, instead of attending the national competition last year Terrill attended an acting camp in Corpus Christi.

She is excited to participate in this summer’s National Thespian Festival.

Terrill said performing is “A real satisfying experience because you know people are enjoying the show and you are having fun doing it.”

Andrea Perez, another participant in the State Thespian Festival, described the process of the competition, “You get put into a small room with three judges and there are about four other groups of performers.”

Perez said there weren’t too many nerves going into the competition because of all the work that when into preparing.

She said being a part of theatre has “helped me grow as a person by giving opportunities to express, and each performance allows me to discover something new about myself.”

Students that qualified for Nationals include: Alicia Cornwell, Andrea Perez, Brandi Bailey, Ben Settle, Caesar Martinez, Caroline Stout, Karis Elliot, Katelyn Sarbach, Michael Garza, Nick Dietrick, Reagan Oaks, Sean Gibbons, Ashley Terrill, Leanne Dixon, and Michaela Montez.