18 Eagles, including drama teacher Scott Mead, attended the Nebraska Thespian State Festival from Jan. 2 to Jan. 4. Four of those Eagles made it into the superior rankings for individual events: junior Tessa Priesman and seniors Grace Spicka, Ray Bartlett and DeVon Richards II.
The Nebraska Thespian State Festival took place at the Holland Center and Downtown Hilton Hotel. Priesman’s performance was a musical theater solo. The captain of the Improv Challenge team is Richards. He and Bartlett performed a duet scene. Spicka, the captain of the Tech Challenge team, presented stage management.
“I was pretty psyched…,”Bartlett said. “We were the only people in Nebraska to get a superior on the duet acting scene, which is like the best grade you can do.”
Richards described his collaboration with Bartlett as an enjoyable experience that felt spontaneous and casual. It was as if they casually proposed the idea to each other, and Bartlett readily agreed. Their partnership involved a dynamic exchange of ideas, making the entire process a positive one.
Bartlett shared his thoughts on Richards, highlighting that he’s not just a talented individual, but also an inspiring class president. He expressed deep admiration for Richards’s abilities and noted that he’s consistently impressed by his work, even suggesting that he tends to underestimate his own talents.
Mead’s Eagles received the Nebraska Thespian Honor Troupe: Gold Recognition for the third year in a row. Central’s Improv Challenge team got third place overall out of 20 schools. Central’s Tech Challenge team got fifth overall out of 18 schools.
“It’s important because we have lots of opportunities to learn and grow as performers and as technicians. Students get to see shows that are performed by other students, other performers, meet new people from across the state,” Mead said.
Mead was nominated for teacher of the year by Central students. Performances and workshops were presented at the Holland Center, and many other events were shown at the hotel.
Multiple Central drama students are asked by Mead if they’d like to attend the Nebraska Thespian State Festival, and most say yes.
“Being on stage is something that has just come pretty naturally, because I treat life as almost like a performance in a way, where I just want to entertain or inform as many people as I can,” Richards said.
Although challenges did come along the way for these four Eagles, the most common of them was time. “Preparing the song on time and you get feedback before you go and perform the festival. Learning from that feedback and trying to use that to improve my performance,” Priesman said.
All four of these Eagles agreed that the Nebraska Thespian State Festival was a fun experience.
“Everyone is welcome there. If you are interested in it or if you are just doing it for fun, you are going to find something that you’re interested in, because there is stuff from acting to improv to just like learning how to tie a knot, which was one of the workshops that I did,” Spicka said.
“It’s just a great way to celebrate theater, and that’s the main thing is to celebrate theater,” Mead said.
