Hinsdale South Selected to Perform at the Illinois High School Theater Festival

Submitted by Hinsdale Township High School District 86. Photo courtesy of VIP. From left to right: Bobby Smid, Cydney Dagen, Jubiril Awe, Melody Rowland, Amelia Manley and Grace Govostis

Hinsdale Township High School District 86 today proudly announced that Hinsdale South High School’s fall musical, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” has been selected as one of the 25 productions to be performed at the Illinois High School Theater Festival. The performance was selected by three adjudicators from the Illinois Theater Festival committee who attended the performance at the school in October.

The festival will be held at the University of Illinois on January 9. An encore performance of the show will be held at the Hinsdale South auditorium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6. Admission is a suggested donation of $10. Any donations collected will go toward costume rental, supplies and other expenses incurred at the festival.
Danny Yuska, the artistic director and choreographer of the musical picked this particular production because he loves the zany characters, catchy music and the intricate plot.

“The writing is hilarious and intelligent; the script leaves you wanting more,” said Mr. Yuska. “I knew that our students would enjoy the experience of the script and the score, and most importantly, I knew we had the capabilities to pull off this challenging piece with our theatre department.”

On being selected to the festival, Mr. Yuska commented, “Our kids will have the opportunity to see educational theater at its finest. They will be able to attend numerous workshops from some of the best theatre professionals across the U.S. Traveling our show is truly an honor and I am excited to give this opportunity to our students.”

Produced by the Illinois Theater Association, the Illinois High School Theater Festival is the largest and oldest non-competitive high school theater festival in the world. Over 4,000 students from 150 high schools come together to present over 25 different high school productions and attend over 150 workshops. Students also have the opportunity to audition for college scholarships.

Cast includes: David Petrak, Jimmy Ladd, Eric Kopicki, Jack Cunningham, Marco Bucio, Jubiril Awe, Joe Kluge, Melody Rowland, Naomi Boye, Isabella Hanson, Katy Krasnozon, Cydney Dagen, Barbora Dirmontaite, Emma Webster, Elizabeth O’Neill, Andrew Goldbranson, Michael Kenny, Damonte Saddler, Bobby Smid, Jamie Erdman, Aimee Ernst, Isabel Giraldo, Grace Govostis, Jennifer Griffin, Amelia Manley and Malina Novelle

Crew includes: Taylor Bartman, Abby Overmann, Alyssa Avitia, Diana Juarez, Kenny Impastato, Patty Pochocki, Ricky Lopez, Michael Barrett, Alex Miret, Courtney Irwin, Sam Hendrickson, Liz Tinnin, Miranda Lowery, Grace McBride, Maggie Chrobak, Sammy Jo Lueg, Leah Joseph, Stephanie Tagudar, Kipras Belopetravicius, Jayla O’Neal, Melissa Chacko, Crystal Chen, Marie Cusick, George Chlada, Danny Donavan, Joe Halbert, Robert Kelly, Jacqueline Lim and Shavali Patel

Orchestra includes: Joanne Dasalla, Claire Ma, Sam Chang, Anamarija Dimevska, Avery LaPlante, Eva Bucke, Emily Cintron, Kennedy Hill, Raheem Mezier, Haaris Alvi, Nupur Bahl, Andrew Cole, Eddie Andersen, Joshua Brunzell, Zach Hoffman, Rodrigo Scofield, Jakob Kocanda and Kellianne Yhip