On Thursday, May 17, the Mount Vernon High School Theatre Department held its annual induction ceremony and awards night in the District Auditorium. Nineteen students were inducted into the theatre honor society, the International Thespians. The requirements of induction are 10 points, or roughly 100 hours of service, in speech and drama participation. These new Thespians join approximately 40 active members of Troupe 1470. The evening also included an announcement of next year’s theatre season. 2012-2013 events will include Large Group and Individual Event speech competition, the “new” comedy by Mark Twain, Is He Dead?, the musical Urinetown, and a student directed show to be determined.

Thespian Inductees (10 points): Daniel Abresch, Alexis Bell, Hannah Bradbury, Lucy Conroy, Alyssa Corcoran, Kelsi Dhondt, Paul Hines, Allison Jaeger, Lance Lineburg, Tanner Mote, Gretchen Oelrich, Rick Povey, Sydney Pratt, Miranda Roudabush, Mariah Schlueter, Keanan Shannon, Lindy Sherman, Cassidy Steines, and Yuliya Vavryshchuk

Honor Thespians (60 points, also earns a varsity letter): Emma Conroy, Connett Croghan, Danielle Hallier, Maggie Howell, Leeann Oelrich, Kaitlin Thune, and Lyndsey Wycoff

National Honor Thespian (120 points): Brandon Douglas, Annabeth Lucas, Cecelia Sullivan, and Seamus Taylor

International Honor Thespian (180 points): Zak Moran

People’s Choice awards were given to Annabeth Lucas (actor), Cecelia Sullivan (technician), and Cory Brannaman (orator). A variety of fun personalized awards were also given by the directors.

The department’s top awards were also announced. The Maggie Ellison awards, named in recognition of the long-time speech and drama teacher at MVHS, honor students who have played active roles in the theatre department. Recipients must display dedication to the performing arts, a desire for continuous improvement, a positive attitude towards directors and peers, a willingness to be coached, and a sense of humility; in short, the qualities we strive to teach all students who participate in speech and drama.

Best Newcomers: Gretchen Oelrich and Sydney Pratt
Outstanding Season: Brandon Douglas
Senior Excellence:

Executive Board Officers for 2012-2013 will be Cory Brannaman (chair), Brandon Douglas, Rachel Reimann, and Cecelia Sullivan

The theatre department is led by director Tom Stephens, technical director Eric Butikofer, speech coach Grant Freeman, and principal Steve Brand.
Visit the theatre department online at http://tiny.cc/mvhstheatre or follow us on Twitter @mvhstheatre