From Jan. 5-7, 43 students from the theatre department traveled to Wichita to participate in the Kansas Thespian Festival, which included workshops, live shows, college showcases, and the thespian competition. Of these students, 15 got a superior rating when they performed their thespian showcase on the first day and qualified for the International Thespian Festival. Three of these students, juniors Isaac Lowe, Kolby Brown and Gen Anderson got a perfect score.

The thespian competition has many different performance categories that students can compete in, including acting, musical theatre performance, musical theatre dance, along with many tech-related events, such as lights, sound and stage management.

Anderson and Brown sang the duet “Go Tonight” from “The Mad Ones” and finished with a score of 24 out of 24. Both will now compete at the international level in Indiana. 

“I am really excited to go because last year we went to the International Thespian Festival and we didn’t get a superior rating there,” Anderson said. “So we are hoping we can get that this year.”

Anderson enjoys being on the stage for the excitement and thrill it brings them.

“I love being on stage because it is more thrilling than any roller coaster,” Anderson said. “I love the reaction from the crowd and the way it makes me feel.”

On the tech side of things, Lowe, who received a perfect score on his stage management of Freaky Friday, compiled his materials in a binder to present to the judges.

 “I spent all of December compiling a binder of all the paperwork I made throughout the show process,” Lowe said. “So like spreadsheets, and then I call cues for the show anytime sound or lights need to change, so I showed them my script with pages with lots of cues, and I just put it on a desk and flipped through it and presented it to the judges.”

Lowe also knows what to expect during the International Thespian Festival in Indiana later this year.

“It goes straight to internationals, which is basically just nationals,” Lowe said. “It’s in Indiana, so I have the chance to present my [thespian showcase] again and get rated again.”

These students will present their thespian showcase for another chance at a perfect score at the International Thespian Festival on June 19.