CNMI students excel in drama competition

Marianas High School sophomore Kyoung Min Park won second place in the costume design competition at the 2008 International Thespian Festival. Kagman High school sophomore Miki Nadia Dela Cruz finished in the Top 10 in solo musical theatre. MHS junior Sung Yul (Tommy) Baik received eight call-backs from U.S. colleges auditioning and recruiting students.

Fifteen students from CNMI middle and high schools recently joined thousands of other students from around the world at the 2008 International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. The festival ran from June 23 to June 28 and featured competitions, stage productions, workshops and college auditions, along with an auction of movie and stage memorabilia and four themed dances. Students came from the United States (including our CNMI students), Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.

Approximately 400 of the more than 3.000 students in attendance qualified to compete in the Individual Events Showcase (I.E.) competitions. Each student may only compete in a single category. Categories include monologue, duet acting, solo mime, duet mime, solo musical theatre, duet musical theatre, group musical theatre, costume design, set design, film, stage management and the technical crew challenge.

All fifteen CNMI students qualified and competed in the I.E. competitions. CNMI students represented Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, Kagman High School, Hopwood Junior High School, Mount Carmel School, and the Saipan American Education Foundation School. They were chosen by accumulating the top cumulative scores in local Thespian competitions throughout the academic year. They competed at the festival in monologue, duet acting, duet mime, solo musical theatre, costume design, set design and film.

Students received individual ratings of superior, excellent, good or fair for each performance, as well as an overall rating.

Every CNMI competitor was rated excellent or superior for at least one performance. The overall scores received were as follows:
* MHS-Kyoung Min (Kay) Park, costume design—2 superiors, 1 excellent;
* KHS-Miki Nadia Dela Cruz, solo musical theatre—2 superiors, 1 excellent;
* SSHS-Ryan Gutierrez & Richille Denora, duet acting–; 1 superior; 2 excellents;
* SSHS-Johnna Lubuguin, monologue—1 superior, 1 excellent, 1 good;
* MHS-Sung Yul (Tommy) Baik and Moon Hyo Lee, duet mime—2 excellents;
* SAEFS-Reese Brown, monologue—3 excellents;
* MCS-Anna Rose Deleon Guerrero, solo musical theatre—2 excellents, 1 good;
* MHS-Matthew Wheat, film—1 excellent, 2 goods;
* MHS-Myrene Evangelista, set design—3 goods;
* MCS—Sung Woo (Jimmy) Baik and Victor Sablan—2 goods;
* HJHS—Royze Banados and Dayanara Flores—1 excellent, 1 good, 1 fair.

Both Kay Park and Miki Nadia Dela Cruz, with their exceptionally good ratings, won special recognition on the program for the Individual Events Showcase.

Besides competing in the I.E., CNMI students also staged two group plays. The junior thespians staged a one-act comedic take-off on Romeo and Juliet called An Evening of Culture, Faith County II, by Mark Landon Smith. The senior thespians presented Cinderella Wore Combat Boots, another one-act production. The plays were well-received by hundreds of student thespians.

One of the most important features of the ITS Festival for CNMI students is the college audition. High school juniors may sign up to present a short 2 to 3 minute piece before representatives from 40 U.S. colleges and universities. Many college drama and music programs require auditions before admission. Most CNMI students cannot readily afford to travel to the unified college auditions held in various cities around the U.S., which makes the festival’s college audition is a great opportunity.

This year, MHS junior Tommy Baik received callbacks, a step in the recruitment process, from eight different colleges. He continues the trend of success by CNMI students at college auditions. Former CNMI students who have obtained college admission and financial aid from recruitment as a result of the festival’s audition opportunity include Rose Wakit, Tommy Shim and Jennifer Jang.

CNMI students attended the national cast production of Hairspray and watched other schools’ staged productions of Chicago, Little Shop Of Horrors, Anatomy of Gray and Noises Off. They took advantage of workshops in areas from salsa dancing to mime taught by professionals in the industry.

The annual ITS Festival provides a unique opportunity for CNMI students to meet other performing arts students from around the world, measure their own progress against the best students competing, learn from different top-notch drama professionals and take in the wide array of culture and art that is embedded in performed drama. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]