Temple High Thespians were very successful during the annual Texas Thespian State Convention, including winning two state championships. The competition was held November 15-17, 2018, at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX. There were over 8,200 people attending, including 283 high school and 47 middle school Thespian troupes.

All eight events (100% success) that Temple entered were judged Superior (the highest possible score) and will advance to the International Thespian Festival competition next June in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Both the Team Set Design (Ashlyn Farley, Izzy Poehlmann, Kerryn Eckenrode and D'Andre Wright) and Team Mask Making (Rebecca Alley, Kylie Burke, Olivia Cabrera and Morgan Madsen) teams won the State Championship in their contests. In the team events, students do not know in advance what show or theme they would be designing for, and they had two hours to complete their designs.

Four of the technical entries — Sound (Michael Jones), Costumes (Brianna Alexander), Set Design (Izzy Poehlmann) and Theatre Marketing (Joseph Espinoza) — were all selected as callback finalists to be displayed on the huge video screens during the closing ceremonies. These students went through two rounds of judging.

Izzy Poehlmann won a $1000 scholarship from Texas Thespians and had over 26 callbacks from colleges and universities who were very interested in her and her design talents.

Troupe President Sierra Amalbert was one of only 35 students in Texas selected to perform at the closing ceremonies with Annaleigh Ashford, Tony award winner, who has appeared on Broadway in Wicked (Glinda), Legally Blonde (Margo), Kinky Boots (Lauren) and a revival of You Can't Take It With You.

PHOTOS: CLICK HERE to see a Facebook Photo Album from the state convention.

Temple Thespians will be competing again this year at the Annual Texas Thespian Convention, November 15-17, at the Gaylord Texan Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Grapevine. Contestants in the national contests can advance to the International Thespian Festival, June 24-29, 2019, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Last year, the Texas convention had 7892 people in attendance (students, teachers, and chaperones).

National individual events involving Peter Pan include Scenic Design (Izzy Poehlmann), Theatre Marketing (Joseph Espinoza), Sound Design (Michael Jones), Costume Design #1 (Brianna Alexander) and Lighting Design (Ricardo Fontanez). Costume Design #2 is for Anna Karenina (Morgan Madsen).

National group events include Group Acting #1 with scenes from The Most Massive Woman Wins (Anaiya Harris, Jalilah Brooks, Torrie Culp and Sereniti Patterson), Group Acting #2 with scenes from Art (D'Andre Wright, Anthony Williamson and Austin Madsen) and Group Musical with "The Crime of the Century" from Ragtime (Sierra Amalbert, Rebecca Alley, Kylie Burke, Olivia Cabrera, Kerryn Eckenrode, Jonathan Equels, Dylan Hardy, Seth Little, Erica Lynch, Genevieve Myers, Allison Quiroz, Daniel Salazar and Mimansha Shrestha).

Texas-only events include Team Costume Design (Brianna Alexander, Lauren Bruckbauer, Karelya Palomera and Allison Quiroz), Team Make-Up and Hair Design (Anaiya Harris, Baylee Black, Jonathan Equels and Anthony Williamson), Team Set Design (Ashlyn Farley, Izzy Poehlmann, Kerryn Eckenrode and D'Andre Wright), and Team Mask Making (Rebecca Alley, Kylie Burke, Olivia Cabrera and Morgan Madsen).

The Texas Tech Challenge team includes Simon Juarez, Ashlyn Farley, Caleb Gommert, Dylan Hardy, Michael Rodriquez, Raymond Garcia and Seth Little.

Coordinating the All-Star Troupe Display entry will be Anaiya Harris, Rebecca Alley, Kylie Burke and Izzy Poehlmann. Temple Thespians auditioning for colleges and Texas Thespian scholarships include Sierra Amalbert, Izzy Poehlmann, Rebecca Alley and D'Andre Wright.

Last year, all 10 of Temple's national events received superior ratings and advanced to the international competition. No other troupe in the entire state had that many entries advance. Out of the 280 troupes at last year's convention, Temple was one of 10 schools named an All-Star Troupe. Temple was also named one of the three finalists for the 2016-17 Outstanding Troupe award. Two Temple students received $1000 Texas Thespian scholarships.

SHOWN BELOW are photos from Team Costume Design, Team Mask Making and Team Hair and Make-Up Design for The Wizard of Oz.

Temple Thespian Sierra Amalbert is one of only 35 students in Texas selected to perform at the all-state closing ceremonies during the 2018 Texas Thespian Festival. Sierra will be performing with Annaleigh Ashford, Tony award winner, who has appeared on Broadway in Wicked (Glinda), Legally Blonde (Margo), Kinky Boots (Lauren) and a revival of You Can't Take It With You. Annaleigh also recently guest starred as Fliss on the television show "God Friended Me" and sang in the finale of the "A Very Wicked Halloween" special on NBC, October 29, 2018.

Over 7000 people are expected to attend the closing ceremonies.
Sierra recently portrayed Peter Pan in the Temple High production.

Temple High Thespians have been named a finalist in the Texas Thespian Outstanding Troupe Award competition for 2018-2019. Director Natasha Tolleson was notified on Sunday, November 11. The students must make a 15-minute presentation on Friday, November 15, at the state convention in Grapevine, and must prepare a handout to share with others on "what you do to be so successful."

In addition to Temple, the finalists include Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy, Texas High (Texarkana), The Woodlands High, Carnegie Vanguard High (Houston) and L.D. Bell High (Hurst). Temple was a finalist last year, where 280 troupes attended the convention.

Performances of Peter Pan will be Thursday through Saturday, October 25-26-27 at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee performance on October 28 at 2 p.m. Temple High's annual musical is normally performed in the spring but was moved to the fall this year because renovations affecting the fine arts area will begin November 1. Tickets for the musical will be the same as in previous years — $10 in advance, $15 at the door and $20 for reserved seating. Reserved seats are only available online and the reserved seating area includes the first six rows of the center sections.

Students from the cast and production staff will be selling advanced tickets. Tickets are also available online (with a 50¢ convenience charge per ticket) at SeatYourself.biz.

The version being performed in Temple is the original 1954 Broadway production, which starred Mary Martin as Peter. A 1979 Broadway revival starred Sandy Duncan, while a 1990 revival featured Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby. NBC broadcast this version as "Peter Pan Live!" in 2014.

Based on J.M. Barrie's classic tale, Peter Pan is one of the most beloved and frequently performed family favorites of all time. This high-flying Tony Award-winning musical has been performed around the world and delighted audiences for 60 years.

Peter (Sierra Amalbert) and his mischievous fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell, visit the nursery of the Darling children (Rebecca Alley, Michael Rodriguez and Nash Belson) late one night and, with a sprinkle of pixie dust, begin a magical journey across the stars that none of them will ever forget. In the adventure of a lifetime, the travelers come face to face with the Lost Boys, a ticking crocodile, a fierce native tribe (with Princess Olivia Cabrera) and a band of bungling pirates headed by the villainous Captain Hook (Sean Mann).

The musical features the iconic songs, "I'm Flying," "I've Gotta Crow," "I Won't Grow Up" and "Never Never Land," and a rousing story full of magic, warmth and adventure. The actors will actually be flying with flying illusions created for the Temple High stage by ZFX Flying Effects.

CLICK HERE for the Information Page showing cast, production staff, and other information.

Peter Pan (Sierra Amalbert) with the Darling Children (Michael Rodriguez, Nash Belson and Rebecca Alley) flying onstage during the Temple High production, October 25-28.

CLICK HERE to see a Facebook Photo Album with more preview photos from Peter Pan rehearsals.

The newspaper article below appeared in the Temple Daily Telegram on October 25, 2018, written and photographed by Melany Cox.

Natasha Tolleson, director of Temple High Theatre Arts for 27 years, has been selected as an Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association. The award will be presented during a banquet at the group's TheatreFest 2018 convention in Addison (Dallas) on Friday, September 28.

Natasha was previously recognized by the Texas State Thespians in 2014 when she was inducted into the Texas Thespian Hall of Fame. The University Interscholastic League named her one of the Top 15 UIL Sponsors in 2011.

This award is given "in recognition of outstanding accomplishment in the teaching of theatre" and is given annually by TETA to up to two K-12 teachers and two higher-education teachers. The other K-12 recipient is Rod Sheffield (Magnolia High), a Temple High School graduate and son of Saundra and Wade Sheffield of Temple. 

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