Sahuaro’s Drama group went up to Phoenix November 16-17 for the annual Theater State Competition. However this year the event was changed up and arranged as a series of workshops for students to participate in, learning about the different professions that come with theater arts instead of its past competitive objective, although there were a few competitions available for students to participate in. Colleges were also present and students who were interested in going to a fine arts college could audition.

Autumn Fatovich, a senior at Sahuaro, participated in a competition of make up skills called Face-on. She recreated a modern look for the queen of hearts and was one point away from a superior grading score. “This was definitely a once in a life time experience. I was the first from troupe 215 to go to the Face-on competition and was lucky to have received an excellent. I am excited to see what the troupe can accomplish next year!” The event gave a unique opportunity for all students who attended to meet new people and professionals. There were also large groups at a time that attended a general session explaining rules and main stages. Students got to enjoy full length plays provided by other high school students.

Two other seniors, Ivory Bacy and Elizabeth Kemp, also from Sahuaro, performed so wonderfully they had many colleges interested in them. “I was nervous at first to audition for colleges, but I soon found out it wasn’t that intimidating. The judges were very nice and very informative. The other students were also very nice, and we walked back to the convention center with one of the other girls. Overall, when I saw the callback list, I saw a lot of colleges that were interested in me. The schools I was most excited to hear back from was the New York Film Academy, Nebraska University, NAU, and AMDA,” said Ivory Bacy.

Elizabeth Kemp also said, “The bathrooms were really nice…but in all seriousness, the judges were very descriptive about the audition process and very supportive. Prior to the event, I spent a lot of time prepping my monologue selections with my peer Ivory Bacy. We practiced our skits during lunch at school and several times at the convention center. Although many students were crowding the call back list, I was most excited to see that I got a call back from the New York Film Academy.”

Sergio Romero, junior, said, “The trip was really great, I learned a whole bunch about what it takes to be an actual professional actor, and I got to do it with my theater family.” Along with saying,”They’re great actors so it’s not surprising that they got offers from colleges.”  Trinity Brandenburg also a junior who got to attend said, “”It was just a lot of fun being out with theater family.”