JA Theatre students traveled to Gulfport January 11-14 for the annually held Mississippi Theatre Association Festival, where schools from across the state converged for competition. The directors and students have been working incredibly hard this year in preparation for this one-of-a-kind theatre event.
Students participated in two types of competition at the festival: individual events and one-act play competition. Individual events included solo, duet, and group musical and acting events as well as design and tech events. The second type of event was the one-act competition, in which students performed “Skinflints and Scoundrels,” a hilarious retelling of Moliere’s “The Miser.” JA’s students earned the opportunity to take their one-act play to MTA by advancing from the regional DramaFest competition held in December.
JA Theatre students had an impressive and successful weekend at Mississippi Theatre Association Festival! Students will now go on to compete at the ThesCon Festival in Meridian in February.
Director of Performing Arts Kerri Sanders said, “We’re bringing back LOTS of hardware! We placed in every individual event category we entered (first place in most of them)!”
MTA 2024 Awards:
- 1st Place Tech Relay Team – Caroline Johnston, Alyssa Martin, Andrew Provias (The Educated Firebirds)
- ODEO Award of Excellence for “Skinflints and Scoundrels” tapestry – Caroline Johnston
- Outstanding Contributions to Theatre Award – Kerri Sanders
- 1st Place Acting Duet – Genevieve Kelley, Zyon McDowell
- 3rd Place Acting 9/10 – Rebekah Brooke Benson
- 1st Place Acting 11 – Willis Thigpen
- 3rd Place Acting 12 – Danielle Wallace
- 1st Place Musical Group – Danielle Wallace, Alex Guild, Henley Nance, Rebekah Brooke Benson
- 2nd Place Musical Duet – Thomas Earl and Henley Nance
- 1st Place Musical 9/10 – Rebekah Brooke Benson
- 1st Place Musical 11 – Henley Nance
- 2nd Place Musical 12 – Danielle Wallace
- 1st Place Musical 12 – Thomas Earl
“Skinflints and Scoundrels”
- All Star Cast – Danielle Wallace, Genevieve Kelley
- Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role – Henley Nance
Students and faculty participants were thrilled when their director received the Outstanding Contributions to Theatre Award. Sanders was nominated by Gibson Cheney ‘22, former JA STAR student and Thespian President. “Mrs. Sanders has the innate ability to both create a spark of interest in a person for theatre and develop that spark into a roaring flame of passion for theatre,” Cheney wrote in his nomination letter. “When I think of people who truly exemplify what it means to contribute to theatre, the first name that comes to mind is that of Kerri Sanders.”
