Saipan students win national awards

Students from Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands on Saipan won a Freddie G Outstanding Production group award and the CNMI’s Jonathan Wolf won the All Festival Performance Male Award at the 2017 iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival West, which happened Feb. 10-12, 2017 in Sacramento, CA, USA.


As one of just six schools from across the country to win a Freddie G Outstanding Production Award, the students performed a song from their production for all 1,500 attendees at the Junior Theater Festival closing On Friday, Feb. 10, JTF West offered programming exclusively for Troupes of Junior Thespians (middle school students) who are members of the International Thespian Society, operated by EdTA, which culminated in a student showcase.
  

Students Jonathan Wolf and Juliet D. Inocencio, representing Troupe 89328 at Dandan Middle School, were selected to perform an acting scene of Views for all junior thespians at the Friday night showcase.

Additionally, Bonnie Gio Sagana, representing Troupe 88755 at Hopwood Junior High School, was selected to perform I’m Not My Father’s So” for all junior thespians at the Friday night showcase.

The iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival West is a monumental weekend of theatrical fellowship dedicated to student-driven musical theater programs. 

JTF West brought together 1,500-plus students and teachers from 35 groups, as well as Broadway professionals and leading educators to celebrate outstanding student theater productions and the transformative power of theater. The Junior Theater Group produces JTF West, iTheatrics provided educational supervision, and the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) provided programming exclusively for Junior Thespian troupes.

In the spirit of collaboration, students presented 15 minutes from a musical in Music Theatre International’s Broadway Junior library of titles for adjudication by a panel of leaders in education and theater.

The Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands students presented selections from Into the Woods JR. for Dean McFlicker, dancer, choreographer and senior vice president and creative director of original production, live events and promotional programming at NBC Entertainment (Hairspray Live! executive producer); Ken Cerniglia, Disney Theatrical Group dramaturg and literary manager, and Cindy Ripley, an educational consultant for iTheatrics and member of the 2005 USA Today All Star Teaching team.

They received feedback on their connection to the material, story-telling, movement, music, acting and ensemble work. 

Said Ripley, “Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands’ gave one of the most riveting performances of Into the Woods I have ever seen, and that includes professional productions. They had immaculate staging with this stellar group of six.”

Added McFlicker, “Amazing! Six performers felt like 60 on stage. Every one of them delivered. They were articulated and clear and strong. Jonathan Wolf is a star in the making. Watch out Broadway, he should be coming your way!”

Added Cerniglia, “We enjoyed wonderful, rich theatrical storytelling from an ensemble of just six! Their big voices were very clean and so enjoyable! And the fact that they traveled so far meant so much to everyone here.”

Wolf and Amber Isabella Liwag were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of outstanding performers attending the festival. The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 1,500 festival attendees.


The 2017 iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival West was a first-time event. 

Since 2003 iTheatrics has produced the iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival Atlanta, the world’s largest festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theater.  The January 2017 iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival Atlanta united 6,000-plus students and educators from 115 educational musical theater groups. JTF Atlanta and JTF West’s title sponsors are Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Group, and Playbill, Inc.

The students who traveled to the iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival West on behalf of Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands are Harold Easton, Juliet Darlguez Inocencio, Amber Isabella Liwag, Frances Elizabeth Pliscou, Bonnie Gio Sagana, Amy Rayn U. Soliman, Jonathan Wolf, and Kristine Wolf.

Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Tuck Everlasting, Newsies); songwriting team Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich (Dear Edwina, Junie B. Jones); Shoshana Bean (Wicked, Hairspray; Ryann Redmond (If/Then, Bring It On The Musical); Luca Padovan (Newsies, School of Rock!); songwriter and music director Rob Rokicki (The Lightening Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical running Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre this March), composer/lyricist Matthew Lee Robinson (Atlantis, Happy People); Dean McFlicker, dancer, choreographer and senior vice president and creative director of original production, live events and promotional programming at NBC Entertainment (Hairspray! Live), and composer, music director, orchestrator Deborah Wicks La Puma (Making Paradise: The West Hollywood Musical, Cornerstone Theater Company) were some of the celebrities at the festival cheering the students on.

At the festival, students and teachers also took part in professional development and workshops honing skills on and offstage.  Most importantly they had the opportunity to connect with hundreds of fellow educators, students and working artists who share their passion for theater. (PR)