Mount Vernon High School Students Win Cappies

Mount Vernon High School students Rita Fair and Jordyn Stewart received the Cappie Award for props for the MVHS performance of Blithe Spirit.

Fair and Stewart received their award at the 13th Annual Cappies Gala at the Kennedy Center on June 10.

Performers, critics, and tech crews from 58 high schools in the D.C. metro area received 40 prestigious Cappie awards, in a glamorous atmosphere that Cappies (Critics and Awards Program) co-founder and Capitol Steps co-founder Bill Strauss called “part Tonys, part Final Four.” 

Casts of nominated shows and the performers of nominated songs presented musical numbers as well as scenes from the nominated plays. Student critics began voting for Cappie Awards on May 13 through a digital, student-designed voting process. The entire show will be aired on Cox Cable “Red Apple” Channel 21 beginning the week of July 2. 

Throughout the year, the Cappies program is driven by hundreds of area high school theater student critics who attend each others’ shows, write reviews for newspapers and TV, and serve as Cappies awards judges. Over the past 12 years, more than 2000 student-written Cappies reviews have been published by more than a dozen other area newspapers in both hard copy and online. Patch sites across Northern Virginia participate in the Cappies program.