Academy picks up two awards at CETA festival

Tom Titus

High school musical theater has its Music and Arts Commendation

for Youth, or MACY awards. For nonmusical productions, the

recognition comes from the annual California Educational Theater

Assn. festival.

Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for the Performing Arts

participated in the California Education Theater Assn. festival last

weekend, and two of the program’s actors captured two of the four

acting awards for their performances in Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach

Memoirs,” directed by Earl Byers.

When the show was staged originally at Huntington Beach High, it

was viewed and evaluated by CETA adjudicators. Based on this

adjudication, the actors were invited to participate in the state

organization’s Scenefest competition

Devri Richmond and AJ Gutierrez were honored with supporting actor

and actress awards for the comedy. They were among seven academy

students who received certificates of commendation for their

performances in the adjudication during the show’s original run.

The other honorees were Ryan Hill, Jill Prout, Nicole Weber and

Katie Merrill for their acting and Chris Dodd for lighting.

Three students from the entire festival were selected to attend

the College Festival in Utah, and the academy’s Garland Sanburg, a

technical theater student was chosen as the alternate.

The group’s statewide mission is to help develop and perpetuate

the highest standards in teaching, learning, curriculum, research,

scholarship, production and accreditation from pre-kindergarten

through university level theater education and to encourage

educational excellence through an environment that embraces an

atmosphere of diversity and fosters cooperation with other

established arts organizations.

In the past two years, membership has grown by 30%, CETA President

Carolyn Elder said. Many of the new members are first-time theater

teachers.

Byer s’ next project at Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for

the Performing Arts will be directing “The Prime of Miss Jean

Brodie,” which runs the first weekend of May. Before this production,

the school auditorium will turn into River City, Iowa when “The Music

Man” hits the stage starting March 14.

Other upcoming academy events include the annual

faculty-choreographed dance concert, “Fusion,” Feb. 22 and 23; “Dance

With Me,” a student-choreographed dance concert, scheduled for May 9

and 10; and the Spring Music Concert on May 17.

There’s also a one-act festival scheduled for May 17 and the

Musical Theater Workshop show (as yet unannounced) on May 17 and 18.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.