Central Drama took home first in the improv challenge and third in the tech challenges at the Nebraska Thespian Society Festival located at the Hilton and the Holland Performing Arts Center. They also got two superior musical theater solos, the troop gold ranking for the second year in a row, and film and play works.
Central Drama Director Scott Mead expressed pride in his student’s performance. “Very pleased and proud of our students from Central,” he said.
The Nebraska Thespian Society Festival is a two-day event that takes place the first weekend of January where drama programs from around the state known as troops perform, listen and talk to guest speakers. Additionally, they attend a banquet, go to workshops, get college information and go to many other activities.
The troops make banners that represent their program, as well as accessories to identify their schools and exchange trinkets to meet and give to people from different schools.
Improv Team Captain Nate Remington was excited about the first-place win. “Last year, Central didn’t even make it to the top nine, so it was such a comeback from last festival, and I’m so proud of my team,” he said.
Tech Challenge Captain Amy Fischer was also excited about her team’s third place finish, but she said a change in coordinators caused different rules in some challenges, but that didn’t bother Fischer. “I was really happy with how we competed besides the changes,” she said.
Reflecting on the improv team’s performance, Remington said that the biggest thing was never getting cut off by the judges. “We were able to recognize the time and place for our scene to end on our own terms, and that goes a long way in preventing the story from dragging,” he said.
Remington was initially nervous about the performance. “We have a tendency to make jokes for each other in the scenes, but the second we got in front of the audience, we listened to each other very well and had a great scene for our qualifying round,” he said.
Fischer was proud of the teamwork displayed, so much so that the team could communicate without talking. But the one thing Fischer said could have been better was more communication from the coordinator.
The improv and the tech challenges had some complexities.
The improv challenge is categorized by three different improv exercises. The teams get judged by acting and improvisation professionals. The teams also get judged on teamwork, contributions from each member, and forming a complete, cohesive story.
The tech challenge is teams of six competing in different challenges like sewing a button, folder drop, setting up a sound system, hanging and focusing lights, a quick costume change and crop shift. Each challenge allows for a certain amount of team members to participate.
To prepare for their challenges, both Fischer and Remington used class time and rehearsals outside of school to prepare. Fischer said the majority of the tech team took Advanced Stagecraft, a pathway class, which also helped them prepare. Remington said that the team was mostly prepared.
Remington had a great time at the festival. His highlight was getting a callback on his superior musical solo; the Thespy Award for individual event. As well as being able to perform in front of a panel of judges.
Fischer had attended the festival for three years and was overjoyed by the superior solos for Remington and senior Jill Bertino. But she also enjoyed the student performance of “Tuck Everlasting”.
Mead, Remington, and Fischer agreed that a memorable moment of the festival was the placements of the improv and tech teams.
But Mead also enjoyed watching his students get involved, and the performances from other schools. He noticed how hard his students worked throughout the festival and the preparations that went into it.
“I think we [did] a great job representing Central,” Remington said.
