High School Thespians Showcase at State Level

Luggage was piled in the front row seats of auditorium Wednesday, just before more than 20 theater students departed for Tampa.

Many wore blue T-shirts with “Florida State Thespian Festival 2011” scrawled on the back. Some of the boys squeezed in one last musical rehearsal before leaving with Troupe Director Gerald Durst.

The students are members of the International Thespian Society, which is sort of an honor society for thespians, and they were on their way to the biggest state conference for thespians in the world, which is held at the Tampa Bay Convention Center March 16 through Saturday, March 19.

“There are 15,000 people from all over Florida,” DHS International Thespian Society President Corin Davidson said. Davidson, a senior, will be auditioning for a technical theater scholarship at the conference. “It’s a completely different cultural experience. They’re not goofing off because they want to be there.”

Students had to qualify at the district level with “superior” ratings before they could qualify to attend the Tampa conference. While there, they will choose between 60 to 70 workshops with topics ranging from aerial acrobatics to yoga for actors, and stage combat to stage makeup. They will also be showcasing their performances in front of judges, hoping for “superior” ratings at the state level.

Three Dunedin students are auditioning for scholarships. Other Dunedin students will perform or compete in costume construction, monologue, solo musical, costume design, duet musical, and small group musical.