ACPS schools sweep thespian competition, will move on to state competition

Press release from Alachua County Public Schools

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Alachua County Public Schools students swept the top awards at the recent high school thespian competition for Florida’s District 12 and the middle school thespian competition for District 1, beating out all other schools in those districts for the opportunity to compete in the statewide thespian competitions in the spring.

Eastside High School students Aaiden Cotton and Patrick Ford took top honors in the competition’s performance category for their musical duet ‘Feed Me’ from the show Little Shop of Horrors. Kaylee Bleaker of Gainesville High School won the technical theater category for her marketing campaign for the musical Aladdin. All three students will now go on to represent District 12 in the Florida State Thespian Festival for high school students in Tampa in mid-March.

For the second straight year, a performance by students from Lincoln Middle School was selected as Best in Show and the District Representative in the District 1 Florida Junior Thespians competition. Jayden Arduser, Esther Thompson, Khloe’ Ayala-Vermont, Payton Howell, Carys Maltby, Megan Hoover, and Gracie McMillen won the top award with their performance of ‘King of New York’ from Newsies. They will be competing at the Junior Thespians State Festival in Orlando in late February.

Many other local students earned high ratings and awards from their competitions. The Buchholz, GHS, and Eastside troupes combined to earn 47 Superior ratings and 48 Excellent ratings. Nine students won Top Honors, including Camilla Lowry and Maya Zaldivar from Buchholz; Emma Bennett, Anna Niemann, Megan Godwin, as well as Cotton and Ford, from Eastside High; and Fin Peck and Kaylee Bleaker from GHS. Lowry also won a $1000 scholarship for costume construction.

In the middle school competition, the Westwood and Bishop/Lincoln troupes combined for 20 Superior and 19 Excellent ratings. Eight students won Top Honors, including Arduser, Thompson, Ayala-Vermont, Howell, Maltby, Hoover, McMillen, and Juliet Anderson.

The directors of the programs include Ted Lewis, Buchholz; Daniel Lytton, Eastside; Shannon Hewitt and Natalia Pegg, GHS; Jackie Collins, Lincoln and Bishop; and Amy MacCord, Westwood;

A list of the students earning Superior ratings, Top Honors, Best in Show, and District Rep status is below.

ACPS Thespian District Results December 2023

Buchholz High School – Ted Lewis, director

32 Excellent Ratings
25 Superior Ratings
2 Top Honors
1 Scholarship recipient

Top Honors:

• Camilla Lowry – Costume Construction
• Maya Zaldivar – Costume Construction

Scholarship Recipient

• Camilla Lowry – $1000 – Costume Construction

Superiors:

• Maya Zaldivar – Costume Construction
• Maya Zaldivar – Costume Design
• Olivia Marvin – Costume Design
• Caitlin Roe – Costume Design
• Aislin Chronic, Jasmine Miranda, Taiden Roberts – Small Group Musical
• Anna Tomlinson, Camilla Lowry, Quinn Horwitz, Riley Bauer – Small Group Musical
• Camilla Lowry – Costume Construction
• Anna Tomlinson and Vijay Hans – Duet Acting
• Christopher Marshall and Sydney Widder – Duet Acting
• Lindy Mack and Lola Davis – Duet Acting
• Daphne Charles and Grace Yoon – Duet Acting
• Pedro Prado – Pantomime
• Quinn Horwitz – Monologue
• Lola Davis – Monologue
• Madison Belcher – Monologue
• Daphne Charles – Monologue
• Daphne Charles and Evie Sutton – Duet Musical
• Jasmine Miranda and Patrick Bethel – Duet Musical
• Jasmine Miranda – Solo Musical
• Eowyn Verhoeven and Riley Bauer – Duet Musical
• Anna Tomlinson – Solo Musical
• Patrick Bethel – Solo Musical
• Spencer Miller – Publicity Design
• Eowyn Verhoeven – Monologue

Eastside High School – Daniel Lytton, director

9 Excellent Ratings
12 Superior Ratings
3 Top Honors

District 12 Representative:

• Aaiden Cotton and Patrick Ford – Duet Musical – Feed Me (Little Shop of Horrors)

Top Honors:

• Emma Bennett and Anna Niemann – Duet Acting – Stairway to Heaven
• Megan Godwin – Monologue – Eye of the Beholder/Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Aaiden Cotton and Patrick Ford – Duet Musical – Feed Me

Superiors:

• Evan Daley – Monologue – The Crucible/The Importance of Being Earnest
• Megan Godwin – Solo Music – Carrie
• Rory Sowers – Monologue – Death of a Salesman/Peter and the Starcatcher
• Aaiden Cotton – Solo Music – Celies Curse
• Aaiden Cotton, Elizabeth Offerle, Patrick Ford – Small Group Musical – Make Me Happy
• Rose Concannon – Stage Management – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
• Rebecca Levin – Costume Design – Macbeth
• One Act – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
• Emma Bennett – Monologue – All for Love/Dryden Thank You So Much for Stopping

Gainesville High School – Shannon Hewitt and Natalia Pegg, directors

7 Excellent Ratings
10 Superior Ratings
2 Top Honors
1 District Representative for Technical Theater

District 12 Representative

• Technical Theater: Kaylee Bleaker – Theater Marketing – Aladdin

Top Honors:

• Finn Peck – Makeup Design – Alice in Wonderland
• Kaylee Bleaker – Theater Marketing – Aladdin

Superior Ratings:

• Alessandra Deleon – Monologues – “Honor/Nerds”
• Diamond Vo – Solo Musical – On the Steps of the Palace (Into the Woods)
• Gianna Malorzo, Diamond Vo, Sean Bernard – Small Group Musical – The I Love You Song (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
• Bethany Anderson, Alanis Mitchell, Kailani Jackson – Small Group Musical – Make Him Mine (The Witches of Eastwick)
• Bethany Anderson – Solo Musical – I know Where I’ve Been (Hairspray)
• Finn Peck – Makeup Design – Alice in Wonderland
• Kaylee Bleaker – Scenic Design – Beauty and the Beast
• Kaylee Bleaker – Theater Marketing – Aladdin
• Yara Cartagena – Student Directed Scene – Little Women
• Norma Wayne – Costume Design and Construction – She Kills Monsters

Westwood Middle School – Amy MacCord, Director

8 Excellent Ratings

Bishop/Lincoln MS – Jackie Collins, Director

11 Excellents
20 Superiors
2 Top Honors
1 District Representative

Superior Ratings:

• Jayden Arduser, Esther Thompson, Khloé Ayala-Vermont, Payton Howell, Carys Maltby, Megan Hoover, Gracie McMillen – Small Group Musical – King of New York, Newsies – Superior + Top Honors, Best in Show/District Representative
• Juliet Anderson – Solo Musical – Diva’s Lament, Spamalot – Superior + Top Honors
• Jayden Arduser, Khloé Ayala-Vermont, Juliet Anderson, Megan Hoover, Xander Emma, Elijah West, Payton Howell, Carys Maltby, Reese Johnson, Yasmin Hassan, Esther Thompson, Gracie McMillen, Samantha Murad, Jussara Love-Leonor, Julia Wynn, Aleah Henderson – Large Group Musical – Freak Flag, Shrek
• Wilder Schwich-Helm, Elijah West, Kario Hill, Lula Ney, Sophia Neighbors, Finnley Gordon – Ensemble Acting – Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread
• Julia Wynn, Halen Herchel, Savannah Smith, Aleah Henderson, Mia Nakanishi, Maliyah Mincey, Samantha Tisher – Small Group Musical – Fearless, Mean Girls
• Aajenae Bannister, Mia Walker, Lincoln Russell, Alexis Murad, Jessica Han, Kate Bishop, Jackie Kramer – Small Group Musical – Join the Circus, Barnum
• Yasmin Hassan, Kaayana Sharma, Jayden Arduser, Juliet Anderson, Megan Hoover, Esther Thompson, Gracie McMillen, Khloe’ Ayala-Vermont – Pantomime – A Day at Disney
• Jayden Arduser, Megan Hoover – Duet Musical – BFF, Spongebob
• Hannah Reeves, Yasmin Hassan – Duet Acting – Antisocial
• Kaayana Sharma, Anni Maxwell, Elliana Fields, Jaliyiah Mcnish, Tavya Joshi, Reese Johnson, Samantha Murad – Small Group Musical – Brand New You, 13
• Aleah Henderson – Solo Musical – I’m Here, The Color Purple
• Esther Thompson – Solo Musical – Watch What Happens, Newsies
• Kario Hill – Solo Musical – Mr. Cellophane, Chicago
• Halen Herchel – Solo Musical – Grow For Me, Little Shop of Horrors
• Kaayana Sharma – Solo Musical – Mama Who Bore Me, Spring Awakening
• Gracie McMillen – Solo Musical – Never Fall in Love with an Elf, Elf
• Sophia Neighbors – Monologue – Nervous Girl
• Kristopher Ramos – Monologue – 10 ways to Survive Zombies
• Halen Herchel – Monologue – Ladies Man
• Elijah West – Monologue – Midsummer Night’s Dream