Wyoming Arts Council

Photo by Doug McKay

NEW YORK, January 18, 2010 – Students from Casper Children’s Theatre have earned another national honor by winning an “Excellence in Technical Achievement” and an “Outstanding Achievement in Dance” at the invitation-only 2010 Junior Theater Festival taking place in Atlanta, GA on January 15-17, 2010.

The cast presented selections from the musical Disney’s Mulan JR. for adjudication by Ken Cerniglia, dramaturg and literary manager for Disney Theatrical Productions, iTheatrics master teacher Cindy Ripley and Pat Briggs, the retired director of the Palo Alto Children’s Theater.

The Junior Theater Festival is the world’s largest musical theatre festival dedicated to groups working with elementary and middle school students and was presented by Music Theatre International and hosted and produced by iTheatrics and Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars. The 2010 Festival was held at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA and brought together more than 1,700 students, teachers, and Broadway professionals to raise their voices in celebration of on-stage and backstage excellence in musical theater.

Adjudicator Ripley said that their choreography really helped tell the story of Disney’s Mulan JR. Ripley had seen the group perform at the 2009 festival and complimented the students, saying the students had brought their performance to another level.

Casper students Gabe Miller and Kegan Wells were selected to perform as part of the Broadway Junior All-Stars, a group made up of two students from each group who took part in an intensive theater workshop with Broadway performer and Talkin’ Broadway host Seth Rudetsky. These “All-Stars” performed “Freak Flag” from Shrek! the Musical at the awards ceremony for all 1,700 attendees. Rudetsky was a festival guest of honor who also led a music master class for all festival attendees.

The festival attendees also contributed over $1,500 for Haiti relief efforts.

Drawing over 1,700 attendees from 50 schools and educational theater groups from across the United States and Canada, the Junior Theater Festival offered an enthusiastic environment for students and teachers to interact with thousands of others who share their passion for musical theater. Each group performed a 15-minute selection of a musical for professional adjudication by a panel of distinguished theater professionals. In addition, both students and teachers participated in interactive workshops led by Broadway and West End professionals, gained from professional development, enjoyed theatrical fellowship and attended a world-class professional
production of Annie at the fabulous Fox Theatre.