This story by Joel Valley appeared on the front page of the Temple Daily Telegram on Sunday, December 13, 2020.

     Eighteen Temple High Thespians received superior ratings in the Texas Thespian Annual Competition and qualified to advance to the National Competition. Other area schools qualifying included Belton (3 students), Copperas Cove (2), Midway (2) and Waco High (4).
     The International Thespian Excellence Awards, or Thespys™ for short, recognize the highest level of achievement in school theatre performance and technical theatre. Because of COVID, the competition was virtual this year. Students submitted performance entries via video.
     One group performed "My Strongest Suit" from Broadway's Aida. The group included Michelle Boyles, Kylie Burke, Ashli Haversperger, Alivea Johnson, Genevieve Myers, Melody Oradesky, Julia Prather, Hanna Prince, and Mimansha Shrestha.
     Temple's other group performed "The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York)" from Guys and Dolls. The group included Terry Austin, Liam Bro, Shane Godfrey, Dylan Harty, Cameron Hooper, Thomas Painter, Michael Rodriguez, Jackson Romans and Daniel Salazar.
     It was previously announced that one of Temple's Technical Design teams won the State Championship with their entry. That team included Terry Austin, Genevieve Myers, Julia Prather and Kelsi Seiter.

     Temple received notification on December 2 that one of its Team Technical Design entries had won the State Championship (1st Place) in the 2020 Texas Thespian State Competition. The team consisted of Genevieve Myers (scenic design), Kelsi Seiter (costume design), Julia Prather (hair and make-up design) and Terry Austin (property design).
     This year, because of COVID, the annual convention was held online. The teams received their assignment (Wicked)  on October 24 and had to submit a 19-slide PowerPoint presentation of their designs by November 9. The presentation included 58 photographs and the team chose "Victorian" as their theme.
     Each team of four students had to work together to create a cohesive design within four areas: Scenic Design (Outside the Gates of the Emerald City), Costume Design (Fiyero Turned Scarecrow), Hair/Make-Up Design (Chistery, the first flying monkey) and Properties Design (Ancient Book of Spells - The Grimmerie).

Below is the final slide from their presentation:

The cast and production staff for Chicago: High School Edition have been announced and are listed on the show's information page. There are some roles that will be assigned during rehearsals.

The first indoor show of the school year will be Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play  by Joe Landry. Performances will be Thursday-Saturday, November 19-21 at 8 p.m. in the auditorium. There is NOT a Sunday matinee for this show. (Please note that this show performs during the first weekend of Fall/Thanksgiving break.) The play is by the same author and has the same format as A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play that was performed at Temple High in December 2019.
     Because of COVID requirements, all seats will be reserved and properly spaced. Because all seats are reserved, students will not be able to check out tickets to sell. Tickets are available online at CentralTexasTickets.com or from the Temple ISD Fine Arts Office. Available seats are shown in green on the ticketing website.
     Spies, murder, love, and other trademarks of Alfred Hitchcock come to life in the style of a 1950s radio broadcast of the master of suspense's earlier films. With "The Lodger," "Sabotage" and "The 39 Steps," Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play is a triple feature, complete with vintage commercials, that recreates a daring train chase, a serial killer's ominous presence, and a devastating explosion through the magic of live sound effects and musical underscoring.
     Cast and production staff are listed on the show's Information Page.

      ONLINE TICKETS

Below is the article that appeared on the front page of the Temple Daily Telegram on November 19, 2020. It was written by Joel Valley with photo by Christian Hernandez.

     Temple High Theatre Students have been preparing competition entries for this year's Texas Thespian Festival. Because of COVID, the convention is virtual this year. Students submit performance entries via video.
     Group Musical #1 will perform "My Strongest Suit" from Broadway's Aida. The group includes Michelle Boyles, Kylie Burke, Ashli Haversperger, Alivea Johnson, Genevieve Myers, Melody Oradesky, Julia Prather, Han  na Prince, Mimansha Shrestha and Victoria Stanley.
     Group Musical #2 will perform "The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York)" from Guys and Dolls. The group includes Terry Austin, Liam Bro, Colin Fowler, Shane Godfrey, Dylan Harty, Cameron Hooper, Austin Madsen, Thomas Painter, Michael Rodriguez, Jackson Romans and Daniel Salazar.
     Sereniti Patterson is performing in the Solo Musical category. Her entry is "Easy As Life" from Broadway's Aida. Sereniti will also be competing for a Texas Thespian Scholarship and will audition for various colleges and universities. She previously auditioned and was named to the Texas Thespians Virtual All State Performance Cast.
     Three teams are entered in the Team Technical Design contest. The teams received their assignment (Wicked)  on October 24 and must submit a PowerPoint presentation of their designs by November 9. 
     Each team of four students must work together to create a cohesive design within four areas: Scenic Design (Outside the Gates of the Emerald City), Costume Design (Fiyero Turned Scarecrow), Hair/Make-Up Design (Chistery, the first flying monkey) and Properties Design (Ancient Book of Spells - The Grimmerie).
     Temple's three teams include (1) Jillian Knox, Penelope Gonzalez, Sereniti Patterson and Mimansha Shrestha; (2) Terry Austin, Genevieve Myers, Julia Prather and Kelsi Seiter; and (3) Amy Alarcon, Kylie Burke, Ashli Haversperger and Hanna Prince. Results will be announced December 5.

School began this year on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 — with two new theatre classrooms featuring high ceilings and lighting equipment. There is new furniture and shelves to display the department's numerous UIL trophies, plus an office for Mrs. Tolleson and a small kitchen.