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) Penelope Gonzalez, Jillian Knox, Austin Madsen and Sereniti Patterson; (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.

An article about This I Know, an outdoor monologue show, was featured on the front page of the Temple Daily Telegram on October 25, 2020. The article was by Joel Valley with photo by Christian Hernandez.

Several Temple Thespians participated in "The Cats Are Back" at the Temple-Bryan football game on October 23. (Temple won 44-7.)

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

The first production of the school year will be an outdoor presentation of Original Monologues by acting students. Entitled "This I Know," the event will be held in the new courtyard located just outside the art classrooms. Thursday, October 22, will feature monologues by Acting One students (6th and 7th periods). Saturday, October 24, features Acting Two and Three Students (8th period). The event begins at 7 p.m.

Thursday performers include Essence Caston, Kiara Edwards, Natalie Greenfield, Mason Jaffers, Alivea Johnson, Paul MacCurdy, Elise Munoz, Sophia Pacheco, Thomas Painter, Ayana Pitre, Morgan Porubsky, Carolina Rodriguez, Jackson Romans, Kelsi Seiter and Victoria Stanley.

Saturday performers include Andre Anderson, Terry Austin, Liam Bro, Kylie Burke, Shane Godfrey, Penelope Gonzalez, Phoebe Gonzales, Aleyah Henderson, Cameron Hooper, Tyler Hutton, Jillian Knox, Austin Madsen, Sereniti Patterson, Julia Prather, Hanna Prince and Daniel Salazar.

Genevieve Myers and Mimansha Shrestha are serving as stage managers and house managers. Tickets are $5 per person. Because of limited seating and COVID, tickets are currently only available to the families of students participating in the production. There will be NO online sales for this show.

Audience members may be dropped off near the courtyard via the drive-through on the west side of the main building. You must enter through and park in the front parking lot. Because of changes made during construction, there is no longer any parking on the west side of the school.

ACTING ONE STUDENTS who performed Thursday, October 22

ACTING TWO and THREE STUDENTS who performed Saturday, October 24

Sereniti Patterson, president of Temple High's Thespian Troupe, has been selected to perform in the 2020 Texas Thespians Virtual All-State Performance. Because of COVID, the annual convention is being held virtually this year, spread out over four Saturdays.

Sereniti will perform in "Bohemian Rhapsody" from We Will Rock You. The video will premiere on December 5, 2020. She had to audition to be part of this special group by submitting her résumé, headshot and a video of a performance. She is a senior and has been a Thespian for four years.

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.

Because of COVID, the Temple High School Theatre Arts department has made some changes and announcements for its 2020-21 season. These dates and productions are all subject to change.
     October 22 and 24 will feature an outdoor show This I Know featuring original monologues in the new art courtyard. (Information Page)
     November 18 through 21, Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play will be presented. This is by the same author and has the same format as A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play that was performed in December 2019. (Auditions for the Hitchcock show will be Tuesday, October 20, at 4:15 p.m. in the auditorium.)
     The annual Texas Thespians State Festival will be virtual this year because of COVID.
     Performances of the musical Chicago High School Edition will be February 4-7, 2021, with auditions November 30 and December 1.
     May 2021 will feature Spring Spotlight, an evening of short plays. This will be similar to Fall Footlights from October 2019.
     The Lion King will be a district-wide summer musical performed in July 2021 with auditions in April. All Temple ISD students, faculty, staff and 2021 graduates will be able to audition. Rehearsals will be flexible.
     "Doing this incredible musical in the summer will be a great celebration for Temple ISD," said Natasha Tolleson, director of the theatre arts department.
     "I am very excited about this coming year," she added. "We are going to put more focus on studying non-European based theatre. We will be hosting play studies and readings for our student body using works by artists of color. Theatre evolves based on what is going on in our world."
     "This is our opportunity, as theatre artists, to introduce change for good and to help our peers discover the importance of theatre," Tolleson concluded.

The department will now have full access to the stage and auditorium because construction has finished. The two theatre classrooms have been re-designed. The department also welcomes Brad LaMotte back as technical director.