A select group of Bishop Kenny theater students traveled to Tampa, Florida to compete and participate in the annual Florida State Thespian Festival on Mar. 13, 2024.
The festival is meant to be a retreat for theater students across the state, where they can connect with fellow thespians, learn from Broadway professionals in different skill workshops, perform pieces and enjoy the high school productions selected to be mainstage performances for this season.
In order to perform a piece at a state festival, a student must perform well enough at the district level festival, held in Dec., to score a “Superior” score. Each performance is scored based on a number of factors, including staging/choreography, authentic facial expressions, transitions within a piece and vocal technique. Making the state festival a celebration of the most talented young performers in the state of Florida.
The BK students that were honored with an opportunity to perform at state this year include seniors Mary Clare Stinneford, Melanie Staples, Giovanna Feitoza, junior Sophia Carman and freshman Carolina Feitoza. The pieces these ladies performed included solo and duet musicals, featuring songs such as “See I’m Smiling” from the musical, the “Last Five Years”, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” from the musical “Annie Get Your Gun.” Among the five pieces BK took to state, the panel of judges adjudicating the pieces awarded an “Excellent” score to each of the 5 pieces.
After performing, BK theater students participated in a variety of workshops. Mary Clare Stinneford and Giovanna Feitoza were personally coached on vocal technique by Broadway veteran Jacquelyn Piro Donovan, who made history by playing two different roles in “Les Miserables” on Broadway in the 90’s and 00’s.
Meanwhile, Carolina Feitoza, Melanie Staples and Sophia Carman were taught official choreography to a variety of mainstream broadway shoes including “Beetlejuice”, “Aladdin” and “Hamilton” by University of Florida theater professor Andrew Cao.
