District Students Show Dramatic Flair at the 2023 Texas Thespians State Festival

Disponible en: Español

50 AISD theater students will advance to the national competition in June 2024 in Bloomington, IN.

Aldine ISD theater students attended the Texas Thespians State Festival, which has grown so much in numbers that there were two festivals to accommodate everyone. Most of the AISD high schools that took part attended the festival held November 15-18, 2023, at the Gaylord Texan Resort Convention Center in Grapevine, TX. Eisenhower HS participated in the festival November 10-13 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio. Each year, the Texas Thespians organization hosts a statewide event, one of the largest annual thespian festivals, where students and their troupe directors celebrate theater everywhere. At this year’s festival, over 10,000 theater students from across the state attended to compete in performance and technical divisions.

Opportunities for Students

The festival gives students opportunities to perform and earn recognition. Activities include:

Workshops
Main Stage performances
Play marathons
College auditions
Performance competitions
Technical competitions
Nationally acclaimed guest speakers
Opportunities to advance to the International Thespian Society National Festival

The sessions and workshops help young thespians develop their acting and technical theater skills.

Aldine ISD has 50 students advancing to the national competition. Carver High School, an Aldine ISD Choice School, led with 27 students headed to nationals, followed by Davis HS with 11, Nimitz HS with six, Aldine HS with three, MacArthur HS with two, and Eisenhower HS with one.

The International Thespian Festival (national event) is set for June 23-28, 2024, and will take place in Bloomington, IN.

A Mainstage Finalist means students received perfect scores, and their IE (individual event) was showcased for all thespians at the closing ceremonies. A Mainstage Callback means the scene received a perfect score from the judges. A College Callback means that the representative for a college’s fine arts/theater program was impressed and would like to see or hear more from the student to be considered for admission.

Over 400 troupes and 10,000 students were represented at the festival, and Carver High School was among the 39 honor troupes. Texas Thespians Honor Troupe distinction recognizes troupes for their tremendous work on and off stage in their school and communities.

Aldine ISD National Qualifiers — Superior Ratings

Aldine High School

Monologue — Emily Reyes
Monologue — Jesse Rivera
Solo Dance — Juliette Martínez

Carver High School

Monologue (Plays: The Colored Museum & Pipeline)— Kamiliyah Washington … Mainstage Finalist*
Duet Acting (Play: Pipeline) — Ivan Davidson & Aja White
Group Musical (Musical: Hairspray) — Kennadie Amos, Tylan Brantley, Tyler Brantley, Brittany Cardona, Bailey Day, Lee Fransaw, Cora Frazier, Nazanine Graves, Jareyohn Griffin, Desmond Hampton, Tiana Jones, Curniya Nickerson, Christopher Pace, Morgan Potts, Na’Leeyah Tatum & Amayah Watson … Mainstage Callback*
Duet Musical (Play: Head Over Heels)— Alyssa Dorsey & Takera Swain … Mainstage Callback*
Group Dance (Play: Footloose)— Faith Bumper, Shanya Howard & Camron Lettries … Mainstage Callback*
Theatrical Marketing (Play — Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) — Tray’Lee Ashley
Lighting Design (Play — Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) — Nevaeh Law
Stage Management (Play — The Bluest Eye) — Tatiana Smith

Carver juniors Alyssa Dorsey and Ivan Davidson and seniors Nevaeh Law, Camron Lettries, Christopher Pace, Takera Swain, and Kamiliyah Washington auditioned for college theater programs. They received a combined total of 80 College Callbacks.

Davis High School

Duet Acting (Musical: Purlie) — Karen Singleton & Deshaun Young
Group Acting (Play: To be Young, Gifted, and Black) — Brianna Emilien, Calen Johnson, Raven Washington & Khalijah Williams
Group Acting (Play: The Women of Troy) — Joyous Feagins, Suyai Gallegos, Samantha Gilay, Haley Griffin & Priscilla Luna

Eisenhower High School

Hair & Makeup — Madalin Carillo

MacArthur High School

Monologue [Plays: Women of Lockerbie & The Monologue Show (From Hell)] — Brandon Hernández
Monologue (Plays: Trojan Women & Women of Lockerbie) — Jacquelyn Lozoya

Nimitz High School

Monologue — Mercedes Gutiérrez Díaz
Duet Acting — Moriah Ford & Cherish Johnson
Duet Acting — César Carreón & Chasin Cloud
Stage Management — Stephanie Romero

Excellent Ratings

Carver High School

Costume Construction (Play: Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) — Aniya Webster

Davis High School

Duet Acting (Play: To be Young, Gifted, and Black) — Jeremiah Bell & Jenesis Younger

Eisenhower Ninth Grade College Prep

Solo Musical ( Musical: Beetlejuice: Dead Mom) — Paola Durán
Costume Design (Musical: The Phantom of the Opera) — Stephanie Martínez
Duet Acting (Play: Gidion’s Knot) — Jamesia Henderson & Patricia Martínez

MacArthur High School

Stage Management (Play: Chicago: The Musical) — Joscelin Lozoya
Duet Acting (Play: Almost, Maine) — Ann Thompson & Alana Vaughn
Playwriting (Play: Criminality) — Génesis Rodríguez

Nimitz High School

Monologue (Plays: Rasheeda Speaking/ Madea) — Taysha Richardson
Monologue (Plays: What I Want to Say but Never Will/I Don’t Want to Talk About It) — Reyleigh Freed
Monologue ( Plays: The Insanity of Mary Girard/Don’t Want to Talk About It) — Catalina Watson

School Theater Directors

Aldine HS — Walter Lane & Maia Wiggins
Carver HS — Roshunda Jones-Koumba & Jabari Collins
Davis HS — Roenia Thompson & Cliff D. Alexander
Eisenhower Ninth Grade — Kristin Wilson
Eisenhower HS — Heidi Rouse Bryant & Aaron Rouse
MacArthur HS — Scott Reeves and Rob Connick
Nimitz HS — Kimberly J. Ardison & Jerra Gentry