MTC Continues Run Of Awards At Junior Theater Festival

MOORESTOWN, NJ - Moorestown Theater Company Artistic Director Mark Morgan called the company’s recent trip to the 2019 Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta his company’s “best trip yet.” That’s saying something, considering MTC has participated in the festival seven times and won awards five of those years.

This year was no exception, as both the A and B academies won national awards and earned recognition at the festival, held Jan. 18-19 at The Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

“We’re just thrilled to be a part of it,” Morgan said. “Any trophies we get are icing on the cake.”
Moorestown Theater Company Academy A student Kieran Barasch received a Freddie G Inspiration Award, and did so through a gash on his leg that would later require five stitches.

Moorestown Theater Company Academy B student Indi Edo v received a Freddie G Award for Excellence in Acting. Academy B is for the older actors in the group, while Academy A is made up of actors from the younger group.

The Moorestown Theatre Company MTC Academy A students presented selections from “Seussical KIDS” for music director and teacher Derek Bowley and director of arts engagement and education at Shea's Performing Arts Center Thembi Duncan.

"Moorestown Theatre Company Academy A were a true ensemble, those performers supported each other as they brought Dr. Seuss' jungle to life,” Bowley said. “Kieran Barasch persevered through an injury in the opening number, giving a great performance as Horton, never letting on just how much he was hurting until the group was done."

Barash fell through a box on stage in the first minute of the performance, according to Morgan. He refused to leave the stage, and continued with his performance for the next 14 minutes. His role included a lot of moving around on stage.

“He didn’t want to let the other cast members down,” Morgan said. “ … If you didn’t see what happened, you never would’ve known he was injured.”

After the performance, he right to the front row, where his parents and Morgan were sitting. He rolled up his pant leg, revealing what Morgan described as a gash on his leg. He went to Urgent Care, but insisted on watching the rest of MTC’s performance on the way.

The Inspiration Award is not a mandatory award. It is given at the judge’s discretion, and only three were awarded at this year’s festival, Morgan said.

"Kieran Barasch and Emma Hong were a delight,” Duncan said. “This ensemble clearly worked very hard on their relationships and chemistry as a group, because they were always very connected and in time with one another."

The Moorestown Theater Company Academy B students presented selections from “Disney's The Lion King JR.” for Scott Anderson Morris, an Australian dancer and choreographer who has served as assistant dance captain on shows including Andrew Lloyd Webber's “The Wizard of Oz,” “My Fair Lady” directed by Julie Andrews and Shay Rodgers, a choreographer who created and managed the Academy at Houston's Theatre Under the Stars for over a decade and who currently teaches at Wildfish Theatre and Houston High School for Theatre.

Morgan was happy with the Excellence in Acting award, but thought his group also deserved the award for Best Vocals. One group can’t win both awards, though.

Moorestown Theatre Company MTC Academy A’s Emma Hong; Moorestown Theatre Company’s Academy B’s Alyssa Miles, Juliet Morgan, and Julia Scott made it to the call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals.

The shoots will be taped in New York City this summer. The Broadway Junior scouts were on the lookout for outstanding students, out of 6,600 people at the festival, 181 were invited to audition for iTheatrics resident choreographer Steven G. Kennedy. The final cast will be determined later this year. These videos will be used in tens of thousands of schools across the country and internationally.

Moorestown Theater Company Academy B’s Indi Ebo and Chance Neal, and Moorestown Theatre Company Academy A’s Emma Hong and Lily Sims were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of outstanding performers attending the festival. The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 6,600 festival attendees.

Moorestown Theater Company has enjoyed great success at past Junior Theater Festivals.

At the 2018 Junior Theater Festival, Moorestown Theater Company won a Freddie G group award for Excellence in Acting (its fourth in five years!), while Moorestown student Lily Sims won a Freddie G Excellent Individual Performance by a Female award. Additionally, students Cassidy Barasch, Kieran Barasch, Casey Curcio, Chloe Edwards, Emma Hong, Juliet Morgan, JT Mozes, Chance Neal, and Ethan Zeligson (for the third time) made it to the final call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals.

At the 2017 Junior Theater Festival Moorestown Theater Company won a Freddie G Group Award for Excellence in Acting. In 2016 Moorestown Theater Company student Ethan Zeligson made it to the call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be-released Broadway Junior musicals.

In 2015 Moorestown Theater Company won a Freddie G group award for Excellence in Acting, while Moorestown student Jordan Budney won a Freddie G Broadway Junior Slam Award. (The Broadway Junior Slam is a theatrical challenge in which students and teachers who don’t know each other must stage and perform a song from a musical in an hour.) Additionally, students Ethan Zeligson and Isabelle Chevalier made it to the final call-back for future Broadway Junior choreography video shoots.

In 2014 the group earned a Freddie G Excellence in Acting group award. Student Jordan Budney won a Freddie G Excellent Individual Performance by a Female award, and student Aren Duffy earned a Freddie G Award for Excellent Individual Performance by a Male. Additionally, students Aren Duffy and Rocco Rucolo made it to the final call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals.

In 2013 student Jack Morgan won a Freddie G Outstanding Achievement award for his performance in the Broadway JR slam. Morgan was also selected to ask questions to Tony-winning and eight time Academy Award winning composer Alan Menken (Newsies, The Little Mermaid) and Broadway producer Thomas Schumacher, when Menken and Schumacher performed songs and talked with students about their experiences in and insights on musical theater.

In all, 32 members of the Moorestown Theater Company’s B Academy have made an average of 3.5 trips to the festival since the company began going. A lot of them have made 4-6 trips, with two making seven trips to the festival. At the company’s Sunday night dinner at the end of the festival, Morgan said, “the tears were flowing.”

“It was bittersweet,” said Morgan, referring to the group who performed in their last festival this year. There are younger actors who will be returning, and they expressed their gratitude and admiration for the older performers at the dinner.

Produced by the Junior Theater Group in partnership with iTheatrics, a leading educational theater company that creates innovative experiences and products for the public and private sector, the Junior Theater Festival Atlanta is the world’s largest festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theater.

This year’s title sponsors were Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Group, and Playbill, Inc. The Junior Theater Festival was founded in 2003. In 2010 the festival became an annual event. This year’s festival united 6,600+ students and educators from 133 educational musical theater groups representing 28 states, Australia, China, New Zealand, and the U.K.

The attached images were provided.

Photo 1, from left: Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe award-winning songwriter (Dear Evan Hansen, “La La Land,” “The Greatest Showman”) Benj Pasek, Moorestown Theatre Company MTC Academy A student Kieran Barasch, Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe award-winning songwriter (Dear Evan Hansen, “La La Land,” “The Greatest Showman”) Justin Paul, Moorestown Theatre Company MTC Academy A educator Erica Sirdashney.

Photo 2, from left: director, choreographer and performer Jacob Brent (appeared in Broadway, London and DVD productions of Cats and Starlight Express, directed premiere of Avenue Q School Edition), Moorestown Theater Company Academy B student Indi Edo, Moorestown Theater Company Academy B educator Mark Morgan, costume designer Theresa Squire (Broadway’s High Fidelity and The Lieutenant of Inishmore).