Published On: April 3rd, 2016By Leticia Fehling

Carver High School, The Kinkaid School Earn 10 Tommy Tune Award Nominations for Musical ‘Hairspray’

The collaborative duo are among the more than 40 schools that entered in the 2016 Award season.

[dropcap color=”#888″ type=”square”]T[/dropcap]heater students at Carver High School and The Kinkaid School have a lot to be proud of. The [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]coproduction of Hairspray earned 10 Tommy Tune Award nominations.

The two campuses joined forces in the fall to collaborate on the spring production.

[icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Carver HS is among the 45 Houston area high schools competing in the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]annual Tommy Tune Awards. This is Carver HS’ ninth year to take part in the competition.

Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) developed the Tommy Tune Awards. The Awards honor musical theater excellence at the high school level. Students and educators throughout the nine-county metropolitan area take part. Houston-based theater professionals made more than 100 nominations this year in 15 categories.

Most folks from a certain generation remember the John Water’s 1988 film Hairspray. The musical includes 1960s-style dance music and “downtown” rhythm and blues songs. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the story revolves around full-figured teenager Tracy Turnblad. She dreams of stardom as a dancer on a local TV show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight. She then meets a colorful array of characters. She soon launches a campaign to integrate the show. Hairspray is a social commentary on the injustices of parts of American society in the 1960s.

Hairspray the musical is from the book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meegan. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the music.

Tommy Tune Award Nominations

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Best Musical[/li] [li]Best Direction[/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Best Choreography[/li] [li]Best Musical Direction [/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Best Costumes[/li] [li]Best Stage Crew & Technical Execution [/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Best Ensemble/Chorus[/li] [li]Best Featured Performer — Carver HS’ Jazmyne Charles as Little Inez [/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Best Supporting Actor — Kinkaid’s Alex Goeringer as Wilbur Turnblad[/li] [li]Best Supporting Actress — Kinkaid’s Mia Munn as Penny Pingleon[/li][/ul]

Carver-HS-The-Kinkaid-School-Collaboration-Hairspray-10

Carver and Kinkaid students read lines for “Hairspray.”

This is a large production. Carver has more than 60 students taking part. Kyle Ward, Jazmyne Charles, Gerra Gistand, Kassidy Fajardo, Brianna Price, Jerycah Lee, Treat Carrier, Kevin Crear, Arielle Wilson, Kiera Prusmack, Yamir Ellis and Bishop Pearsall. Kasi McHenry, Elysa Aguilar, India Sherman, Mykaelan Flournoy and Jaela Amos also have roles. The students as well as members of the Carver Dance Company also comprise the ensemble cast.

Carver-HS-The-Kinkaid-School-Collaboration-Hairspray-8

Carver and Kinkaid students rehearse choreography for “Hairspray.”

Carver students Aziza Robinson, Ivan Geters, Jacoby Whitfield, Jayla Rhodes, Joyceline Loughridge, Krystal Ester, Louis Butler and Princess Brown play an important role as technicians. They make the lights, sounds, and stage changes seem easy.

Students from AISD’s Houston and Drew Academies also formed part in the production’s ensemble.

Roshunda Jones, Jabari Collins, Sarita Salinas and Tamara Fleming head the production team at Carver. Jones is the director. Collins is the technical director while Fleming is production assistant. Salinas is dance director and performing arts chair at the magnet campus.

Justin Doran is director at Kinkaid. Richmond and Girlinghouse work with choreography. Jack Beetle and Mark Sell are the musical director and technical director, respectively.

The Tommy Tune Awards is set for April 19 at the Hobby Center. ABC Channel 13 will air the Awards in June.

The Awards ceremony is open to the general public. Each Best Musical School will perform a scene from their musical for the awards ceremony.

A limited number of VIP tickets went on sale March 22. Call the box office at (713) 558.TUTS (8887) for more information. General tickets will go on sale to the public on Thursday, April 7.