On Saturday, Oct. 30, theatre departments from 66 high schools descended upon Central Los Angeles High School for the Visual and Performing Arts for the Drama Teachers Assn. of Southern California Fall Festival. Forty-five AVPA students from the Blurred Vision Theatre Company, along with Creative Director Sheila Silver and two parent chaperones, met at 7 a.m. at Culver City High School. After loading the bus, they would travel to downtown Los Angeles where they would spend the next 12 hours performing for judges and fellow students in seven of nine categories.
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From left, Laura Spencer, Michelle Witt, Emily Delageane, Amandalinn Digirolamo, Amy King, Summer Concepcion.
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Each entry was limited to 5 or 10 minutes, depending on the category. Student directors, actors, and support crews presented their work, met new friends, and nervously waited for results as competition rounds continued throughout the day. Culver High advanced to the semi-finals in six categories, including Audition Monologues by Brandon Blum and Emma Niles. Late in the day, Blurred Vision learned that they had advanced to the finals in three categories: Noel Coward Plays, and Trapped, and Musical.
At 6 o’clock, more than 2,000 students filed into the theatre for the Awards Ceremony. Anticipation and excitement filled the room. Explosive cheers erupted as winners were announced, and Culver High was pleased to receive third place for “Design For Living” in the Noel Coward category (actors Avery Dresel-Kurtz, Eric Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell, Aaron Moses; director Louie Chavez).
In addition, Culver High was awarded Honorable Mention in two other categories: “Trapped” (actors Josh Call, Olivia Finnegan, Georgia Funnell, Kelsi Parsons; playwright and director Marino Lapidus) and Musical “Parade” (actors Louie Chavez, Chris Clark, Amandalinn Digirolamo, Kayla Guirguis, Atiyyah Joseph, Amy King, Marino Lapidus, Matthew Peterson, Marti Skolar; directors Emily Delegeane and Sierra Parsons).
In addition to the aforementioned students, other competing actors and directors from Blurred Vision included Shahlah Butler, Sibyl Courey, Allison Dave, Justin Forsythe, Amy King, Jacob Lince, Elizabeth Moss, Sierra Parsons, Tristan Price, Laura Spencer, Tennessee Westmorland, and Michelle Witt.
Ms. Kinnon may be contacted at avpa.pr@gmail.com
