UCS Theatre students earn top honors, $5 million in scholarships

Utica Community Schools theatre students earned top 26 top awards and nearly $5 million in scholarship offers at the 2023 Michigan Thespian Festival.
Theatre students attended the annual festival in Lansing, held December 8 and 9. Approximately 1600 students from 70 Michigan schools were at the festival.
Students had the opportunity to attend professional workshops, meet with college representatives, view performances and compete in events that were judged by college and industry professionals.
Students earning awards were:
Eisenhower High School
Monologue Acting:

• Cady Soules-Excellent
• Kyndra Lazzeri- Excellent
• Gwen Case- Superior

Duet Acting:

• Cady Soules/ Madelyn Witulski- Excellent
• Charlie Vanker/Connor Wells-Excellent
• Krys Villanueva/Audrina Visca-Excellent

Solo Music Theater

• Madelyn Witulski-Excellent

Solo Dance:

• Natalia Ablahad-Excellent

Group Dance:

• Natalia Ablahad/Zachary Sodergren-Excellent

Scholarships:

• Ema Steele-Tech Make up Design
• Isabella Arcangeli-Acting
• Samantha Hunter-Tech Costume Design
• Madison Belisle- Tech Set Design
• Boban Acovski- Acting
• Tyler Nichols Musical Theatre
• Anna Hilliard- Musical Theatre
• Addison Mondoux- Acting
• Kevin Ago- Musical Theatre
• Kyle Dawson- Tech-Theatre Marketing/Management
• Jillian Prall- Acting
• Carly Zanti- Tech Costume Design
• Vinny Multhaupt- Acting
• Natasia Gyftakis-Acting
• Mya Smith- Acting
• Gwen Case- Acting
• Brody Shemanski-Acting

Eisenhower theatre students are under the direction of Eric Wells.
Stevenson High School
Superior Ratings:

• Finn Haffner - Costume Design
• Finn Haffner and McKenna Riley - Duet Musical Theatre
• Sophie Hathon - Solo Musical Theatre
• Aidan Praet - Lighting Design
• Brooklyn “Wren” Rickert-Gary’s – Monologue
• Chloe Wesson, Abigail Young and Terry Yung - Duet Acting

Excellent Ratings:

• Ellie Rice and Abigail Young - Duet Musical Theatre
• Brooklyn “Wren” Rickert-Gartz- Playwriting
• Quinn Zwolinski - Solo Musical Theatre

Scholarships

• Finn Haffner
• Sophie Hathon
• McKenna Riley

Stevenson theatre students are under the direction of Cheryl Jackson
Utica High School

• Kenadi Hazen, Jaelyn Kaczmarczyk, and Maia Suggs – Superior in Group Musical Theatre Performance
• Nadya DeRosa – Superior in Solo Dance
• Alex Ponce-Ramirez and Beesan Nijimen – Superior in Duet Acting
• Jaelyn Kaczmarcyzk – Superior in Properties Design
• Lauren Garwood – Superior in Sound Design
• Lily Oddo – Superior in Directing
• Logan Spillane – Excellent in Solo Musical Theatre and Monologue Acting

Scholarships

• Emma Clarke
• Lily Oddo

UHS theatre students are under the direction of Joel Kaczmarczyk.
Also, the Utica High School trio of Hazen, Kaczmarczyk, and Suggs performed in the Student Showcase “I Know it’s Today,” from the musical Shrek and Stevenson student Dylan Martinez performed “Funny” from City of Angels in front of approximately 1700 people.

Source: Utica Community Schools

Superintendent Robert S. Monroe
Http://www.uticak12.org