From a press release:
Parkway Playhouse students attend national theater festival
On Friday, January 16, 2015, 24 students from Parkway Playhouse Junior will head to Atlanta, GA for the 2015 Junior Theater Festival. The National Junior Theatre Festival hosts 5000 performing arts students from across the country. At the festival, in addition to performing selections from their recent production of Guys and Dolls, students will have the opportunity to attend classes and workshops led by leaders in the entertainment industry that have included award-winning directors, choreographers, actors, writers, and producers from Broadway, television, and film. Special guests at the festival in previous years have included actor Zac Efron (Disney’s High School Musical), composers Stephen Schwartz (Broadway’s Wicked) and Alan Menken (composer for numerous Disney films and musicals including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast). Disney Theatrical, the Broadway division of the Walt Disney Co, is a major sponsor of the festival.
This is Parkway Playhouse Junior’s 4th year attending the national festival. In 2012, Parkway Playhouse Junior took Bugsy Malone, Jr. to festival and in 2012, Pirates of Penzance, Jr. Both years, they came home with an Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award. In 2014 Parkway Playhouse Junior took the cast from its production of Mulan, Jr. to the festival.
In 2014, Yancey County student Lily Bartleson was awarded “Outstanding Performance by a Female”. Corey Chandler, also from Yancey County, brought home the “Inspirational Student Award”. Elijah Briggs, now a student at Mountain Heritage High School, was selected as one of the groups “All-Star Performers” for 2014, received a full scholarship to go to New York City and work as an actor in the new youth musical production of Dreamworks’ Madagascar, Jr. Briggs performed in front of creators of the original movie alongside students from all over the country, that were also selected from the thousands of students at the Festival.
Director of Education, Mary Katherine Smith-Gall, was awarded the “Freddie G Experience” at the 2014 Festival. This is a distinctive award based on a nominating process and is bestowed on selected performing arts instructors from all over the country. As a recipient of the “Freddie G Experience” Smith-Gall was invited to spend a week in New York City as the guest of Music Theatre International Chairman, Freddie (‘G’) Gershon and his wife Myrna. During this week, she had dinner with Stephen Sondheim (award-winning composer of Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods) and participated in master classes with Broadway professionals.
For detailed information about casting, productions, classes, and volunteer opportunities at Parkway Playhouse, please visit www.parkwayplayhouse.com or call 828-682-4285.
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