Hoboken Middle School Junior Thespians Earn 5 Awards At State Festival

HOBOKEN, NJ — Students from Hoboken Middle School won a slew of awards at the New Jersey Junior Thespians Festival last week.

The statewide festival, held at the OCVTS Grunin Performing Arts Academy, brought together middle school theater students and educators to celebrate performance, collaboration, and arts education through workshops and competitive events.

Hoboken students participated in workshops including: playwriting, "Mamma Mia!: Dance, Improv Fun," "The Art of the Toss: Juggling," Theater Games, and "Unlock Your Voice: An Intro to Vocal Technique."

In addition to workshops, students competed in performance categories including Monologues, Duet Acting, Solo Musical Performance, and Group Scene.

The Hoboken Middle School delegation earned five Superior Thespy Awards—the highest honor awarded for achieving perfect scores.

“These students demonstrated an incredible level of dedication, focus, and artistry,” said theatre educators PJ Benson, Aishah Tapia, and Gina Rotondi. “Their success reflects not only their talent, but also their willingness to take risks, support one another, and grow as performers.”

The festival experience also emphasized the importance of teamwork, discipline, and self-expression.

Students representing Hoboken Middle School included Nyah Beveridge, Violet Blaylock, Connor Broderick, Kelsey Broderick, Lenny Cohen, Doug Critelli, Otto Hasselberger, Phillip Lazorchick, Jaden Lionel, Jillian Mahat, Madison McKeown, Ellie Miller, Luke Mei, Carlos Pineda, and Alex Poucki.