Eleven Temple Thespians are attending the International Thespian Society Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska. Students are competing in duet musical, group musical, lighting design and for college scholarships. Below are photos from their first day on the road to Lincoln.

LEFT: Temple Thespians at the Nebraska State Capitol.  RIGHT: "Don't Tell Mama" competitors.

Carlen Gilseth is joining the Temple High Theatre Department Staff in the Fall of 2017. He will serve as Temple's Technical Director and Assistant Director. He holds a master of fine arts degree in directing and theatrical production from the University of Texas at Austin. Most recently, he taught at Minot State University in North Dakota. Previously, Carlen taught many years at The Woodlands High School (near Houston), where he was named Texas Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association. He has taken several plays to the UIL State One-Act Play contest and was State Champion in 2000 for The Shadow Box. He served as State Chapter Director of the Texas Thespians from 2007 through 2011.

Under his direction The Woodlands won the International Thespian Society Outstanding School Award in 2000 and 2007. Carlen's wife, Connie, will teach theatre at Lamar Middle School.

Temple's former Technical Director Brad LaMotte has joined the Baylor University theatre department.

Temple's Ashlyn Medina won the Division 2 State Championship in individual hair and make-up design during UIL state finals in Round Rock April 14, 2017. Division 2 includes 5A and 6A schools. Her designs for Into the Woods were based on a Bollywood theme.

Temple's group entry won 5th place in Texas. It was focused on a film noir theme with an homage to German expressionism. Group members included Bianca Gutierrez (set design), James Equels (costumes), Bailee Poelker (hair and make-up) and Emma Tolleson (marketing).

Temple High School's production of Hedda Gabler advanced in the District 18-5A one-act play contest on March 21, 2017 at College Station High School. This means that Temple has been district co-champion for 25 years in a row. The other two schools advancing with Temple were College Station High (After the Fall) and Bryan High (Twelve Dreams). The next level of competition will be the Bi-District Contest, March 25, 2017 at Waco University High.

Temple's Emma Tolleson was named Best Actress in the district. Benjamin Clardy was selected for the All-Star Cast. Adara Felix was named to the Honorable Mention All-Star Cast, and Callie Ortega was named Best Technician.

CLICK HERE to see a Facebook album of photos from the play.

Performance Order on Saturday, March 25 at Waco University High:
   10 a.m. Lindale High, Medea
   11 a.m. College Station High, After the Fall
   12 noon Bryan High, Twelve Dreams
   1 p.m. Whitehouse High, The Caucasian Chalk Circle
   2 p.m. Temple High, Hedda Gabler
   3 p.m. Corsicana High, The Scottish Tragedy

Times are approximate as the performances run back-to-back. Plan to arrive early in case they are running ahead of schedule. Wendy Barrett will serve as judge. Three of the six schools will advance to the Area Contest on Monday, April 3, at Waco University High.

Temple High students are busy preparing for the musical Oklahoma!, which performs February 2-5. Oklahoma! was the first musical written by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Set in the Oklahoma Territory in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain (Benjamin Clardy) and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams (Emma Tolleson). A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker (Andrew Tye) and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie (Adara Felix). The musical also features Laurey's Aunt Eller (Kaiya Fowler and Andylyn Schmidt), hired-hand Jud Fry (Nickolas Winkler) and peddler Ali Hakim (Gabriel Salazar).

Updated Sunday, February 5: Online ticket sales have ended. General admission and reserved seating tickets will be available at the door while they last.

CLICK HERE for the information page about Oklahoma! with cast and production staff members.

Below are articles by Melany Cox that appeared in the Temple Daily Telegram on February 2 and 5, 2017.

Temple High School's production of the musical Cabaret is one of only two school productions in Texas invited to perform on the main stage at the annual Texas State Thespian Convention. The meeting will be November 30-December 3 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas. Temple will perform Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. and Thursday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (The other school invited to perform is J. J. Pearce, a 6A high school in Richardson.)

A special send-off performance will be held at Temple High School on Monday, November 28 at 7 p.m. (Note the earlier time.) Tickets are $10 per person at the door (cash or check only). There are no advanced tickets being sold for this special performance. Ticket sales and donations will help defray expenses in taking the production to Dallas.

The group will perform the show three times in Dallas because of the number of attendees at the convention. The convention center's Naomi Bruton Theatre only seats 1750. Last year, over 6000 people attended the festival, which included 229 different Texas high school Thespian troupes.

Cabaret was originally performed at Temple High School September 29-October 2. Temple previously performed on the state convention's main stage in 2013 with the musical The Secret Garden.

Temple High School is the current UIL 5A State Champion in the annual one-act play contest.

The cast and production staff of Cabaret. (Photo by Matthew Corley)

The following article by Patty Benoit appeared in the Temple Daily Telegram on November 24, 2016:

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