Dramatic Tension Students From Across Idaho Display Talents In Contest
Footballs and pompoms gave way to theater props such as cellophane angel wings and bagpipes as students practiced their theater antics in classroom halls Friday afternoon.
Lake City High School is host to Idaho’s 2000 State Drama Tournament this weekend. A total of 535 students from 58 schools around the state will compete, said Sandra Seaton, Lake City’s theater teacher and host of the event.
The students are the top 25 percent in the state - all winners from district competitions. Drama students compete in areas such as solo and ensemble performances, as well as technical theater skills.
Ensemble and solo pieces include humor and original works, theater competitions such as costumes, makeup and scene designs.
“It’s a mass of craziness,” Seaton said about managing Friday’s busy schedule and the eager students with mounds of luggage.
Sixty-four students will compete to win the humor ensemble, Seaton said. Finals are scheduled for today.
About 50 judges from around the state are participating in the event. Most of them have backgrounds in theater or drama.
Seaton has prepared for the event for more than two months, she said.
“My kids love it because they meet kids from other areas in Idaho,” she said. “And they find out they’re not alone.”
Lake City High School was chosen because of its large rooms and auditorium. The event also was a chance to show off the relatively new high school, Seaton said.
Along with six other students from Madison High School, senior Renae Nelson took a bus Thursday from Rexburg in southeastern Idaho. She will perform a solo pantomime, as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The only catch is, Goldilocks is so small that everything’s too big for her, she said.
Robert Vanek, a senior at Lake City, also will compete in a solo pantomime skit called “The Doll Maker.” He plays the old craftsman, as well as the ballerina doll that comes to life and dances in the skit.
Pantomiming probably is the toughest category, he said.
“You don’t use any props or costumes,” said Vanek, who learned how to act from his mother, who was a Broadway performer. “You use physical movement, or expressions with your face.”
Last year, Vanek performed in the state competition, too, and he was a finalist among eight others. He performed as an ape, and ended up dislocating several fingers.
Judges Michael and Judy McGiveney said they can tell who’s done their research. Many of the designs are impressive, they said.
The couple helps put on plays at Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater.
“What you’re looking for specifically is the effort put into it,” said Michael McGiveney, who remembers being in similar events as a high school student.
The kind of students attracted to theater usually are unique and outgoing leaders, Nelson said. The “drama geeks” are long gone, she said.
“If you’re good at drama, you’ve got it made at our school.”