Tommy Tune Award Nominations

Three Spring Branch ISD high school theater departments have received a total of 15 nominations for the annual Tommy Tune Awards.

Stratford High School’s Bye Bye Birdie musical is nominated in 12 separate categories, an incredible record of accomplishment before a single award is presented.

Also nominated are Spring Woods High School’s productions of The Addams Family, the Musical, in two category nominations, and Memorial High’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, which has one nomination.

Created in 2002, the Tommy Tune Awards recognize and reward excellence by high school students and their teachers in the production of musical theater.

Winners will be announced in a Tony Awards-style ceremony on April 21 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The ceremony is open to the public, and tickets are still available.

This year, a team of Houston-based theater professionals nominated 164 school participants in 15 separate categories. In all, 45 musicals presented at area high schools were rated and judged during the past academic school year.
In addition, a separate committee is considering potential scholarship recipients.

The well-known Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) Tommy Tune Awards are held partly to acknowledge and affirm outstanding student theater productions as well as talent at the high school level, as well as encourage future development.

For more information or to reserve event tickets, call (713) 558-2600 or visit www.tuts.com/TTA.

SBISD’s Tommy Tune nominations this year include:

Stratford High School: Bye Bye Birdie

• Best Musical
• Best Leading Actress, Katie Moore as Rose Alveraz
• Best Supporting Actor, Ryan Brown as Harry MacAfee
• Best Supporting Actress, Eliza Masewicz as Kim McAfee
• Best Featured Performer, Kirby Morris as Gloria
• Best Ensemble/Chorus
• Best Scenic Design
• Best Costume Design
• Best Lighting Design
• Best Stage Crew & Technical Execution
• Best Musical Direction
• Best Direction

Spring Woods High School: The Addams Family, The Musical

• Best Costume Design
• Best Direction

Memorial High School: The Drowsy Chaperone

• Best Orchestra

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The Addams Family Goes International in June

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Spring Woods High School Thespian Troupe 127 Presents Encore performances of The Addams Family Musical

WHAT:	Encore performances will be held to benefit Spring Woods High School’s production of The Addams Family which has been selected to be performed on the mainstage at the International Thespian Festival 2015 in Lincoln, Nebraska this June.
WHEN:	June 12 at 7:30pm, and June 13 at 7:30pm & 2:30pm
WHERE:	Spring Woods High School Main Auditorium, 2045 Gessner, Houston, TX 77080
HOW:	Reservations: www.safariplayers.com/tickets
PRICE:	$10 Regular Admission,  $20 VIP Admission

Spring Woods High School is excited to announce that their school musical, The Addams Family, has been selected to be presented on the mainstage at the 2015 International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska, June 22-27.  Adjudicators from the International Thespian Society, an honor society for theater students, attended a February performance and selected the production as one of only eleven high school shows in the United States to be presented on the mainstage during the summer festival.  Seventy-two students and staff members are part of the production. 

As part of an extensive fundraising campaign to bring the show to the festival, three encore performances will be held at the school prior to their departure.  These benefit performances will be held June 12th at 7:30pm, and June 13th at both 2:30pm and 7:30 pm in the Spring Woods High School Main Auditorium, 2045 Gessner, Houston, Texas 77043. Here is your chance to support these students!

Tickets: Purchase day of show tickets in the lobby starting one hour prior to show time, or in advance at www.safariplayers.com/tickets.

• $10 General Admission Tickets
• $20 VIP Tickets*

VIP Ticket* holders will receive preferential seating, concession vouchers, and a chance to win prizes.

Can’t make it to the benefit performances, but still want to help make dreams come true? Your support is appreciated! 

Please consider sponsoring all or part of a student’s individual $950 expenses, or donate toward the group’s total fundraising goal of $80,000 for transporting the cast, crew, musicians, staff, and scenery from Houston, Texas to Lincoln, Nebraska.  Please include cash/a check made out to the booster club, Spring Woods Theater Company and mail it to:

Sherri Lawson, Treasurer
Spring Woods Theater Company
5014 Hialeah, Houston, Texas 77092

Please indicate in a note or on the memo line how your donation is to be applied (individual/group).  If you would prefer to donate using a credit card or paypal, donations may be made at: www.safariplayers.com.

The booster club is a 501(3)c non-profit organization and your donation is fully deductible to the extent of the IRS rulings.  Thank you for your time and consideration. Please contact Karen Monteiro at (713) 870-3503 or Christine Sofka at (713) 291-9758 for any additional information.

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High School Musical Heads to Memorial High Stage

Memorial High School Theatre is bringing Disney’s hit movie High School Musical—to the stage.  In High School Musical, two high school students—basketball player Troy and brainy new girl Gabriella—break free from the expectations of their cliques and clinch the lead roles in their school musical. The show runs two days only, April 23-24, so make plans to attend now.

Jay Matthew, Memorial’s assistant director for theatre arts, is directing the show. “We chose the show because it is recent nostalgia—for the kids that are graduating or close to it, their childhood dream was to be in this show,” he said.  “I knew they’d have a lot of fun doing it and their friends would have fun coming out and seeing it.”

Senior Leela Rao agreed.  “I’m having a lot of fun because we’ve grown up with these characters so it’s a dream come true to play Gabriella.”

This is the first show that Connor Pence, who plays Gabriella’s romantic interest, Troy, has participated in.  Connor plays football and participates in choir.  “My favorite thing about this show is that I’ve never gotten to sing in front of people before, and this is finally my chance to act and sing.”

Aiden Snasdell, a sophomore who plays the diva Sharpay, is enjoying playing such a “fun character.”

“Sharpay is such a polar opposite to what I’ve played in the past,” she said.  In the show, Sharpay and her brother, Ryan, conspire to keep Troy and Gabriella out of the school musical.  “Sharpay really likes to be the center of attention.  If she can’t be the lead in the musical, she doesn’t really have anything else going for her, so she is rude and overly dramatic,” Snasdell said.

Sharpay’s brother Ryan, is played by sophomore Daniel Fonseka.  “I like his transformation from being a sidekick to coming into his own and standing up to Sharpay,” he said.

The show runs Thursday and Friday, April 23-24 at 7 p.m. and Friday, April 24 at 9 a.m. at Memorial High School’s Performing Arts Center, 935 Echo Lane, Houston, Texas.  Tickets are $10 and are available for advance purchase at www.mhstheatre.com.  Contact the box office at (713) 251-2535 for discounts on group purchases.

For more information about the show, please contact Jay Matthew at (713) 251-2535.

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Running for the Arts Art Auction

Now is your chance to have a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Selected designs created by both SBISD art teachers and students are currently available for bid at the Wayne Schaper Sr., Leadership Center (Ad. Building, 955 Campbell Rd.). Art pieces include flat work designs, ceramics, photography, jewelry and other unique pieces of art with bids starting as low as $5.  All proceeds benefiting the fine arts programs in SBISD.

If you have a beach house, second home or just need some new art to freshen things up, now's your opportunity! Think about gifts for Mother's Day or unique gifts for someone special.

If you are interested in bidding on any of the following pieces and cannot make it to the administration building, please email Leann Newton at leann.ayam@yahoo.com, and she will place the bid for you.  Items are available for bid until May 1.

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