​D155 Students Selected For 2017 All-State Musical

From District 155: Four D155 students were selected to be part of the 2017 All-State musical "Sweeney Todd." The All-State cast, crew, and pit orchestra are comprised of top student performers, musicians, and technicians from the state of Illinois. More than 375 talented students from 73 high schools auditioned for this year’s production. One-hundred-and-nine were selected for the final production company. The following D155 students were chosen:

• Corey Barlow - Cary-Grove High School - Actor
• Juniper Beatty - Crystal Lake South High School - Tech crew
• Melissa Marable - Crystal Lake South High School - Orchestra
• Alec Strickland -Crystal Lake South High School - Tech crew

“Corey is one of the finest singers and most focused musicians we've ever had at Cary-Grove, and he is tremendously deserving of this honor,” said Kristine Hester, Cary-Grove music teacher.
Rehearsals are quite demanding and take place one full weekend each month, from August through December. Final rehearsals are scheduled just days before the performances in January.

Kristine Hester, a Cary-Grove choir teacher is also serving as one of the two vocal directors/accompanists for the show.

“As a staff member, I'm honored to have been asked to join the production team this year. As in District 155, these teachers from across the state are consummate professionals who are not only accomplished educators but incredibly skilled artists, and I've so enjoyed being a part of the team,” said Hester.

Sweeney Todd runs from January 5-7, 2017 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This is a closed event for participants of the Illinois High School Theatre Festival. Public tickets are not available for these performances.

“It is an incredible privilege for our students to be selected to represent our community at this elite level. The Illinois Theatre Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, and the experience that the All-State Company gain is beyond compare for young theatre artists, ” said Ben Stoner, CLS English teacher and 2012 All-State Director.

Image via Pixabay