Olympic High School (OHS) was the only school in Washington state to receive the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast honor in the 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards for its production of the musical “Godspell.”
The awards were presented at a ceremony Monday, June 1, and recipients were invited to give an acceptance speech. Olympic High School students Tyler Brillhart and Brittnee Noyes also were chosen to perform on The 5th Avenue Theatre stage for individual honors they received.
“The 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards were created to honor the work, talent and commitment that students, parents and faculty devote to their school’s yearly musical productions; to acknowledge the value of high school theater programs and give drama students the same recognition received by high school athletes; and to introduce young people to The 5th Avenue Theatre and nurture their appreciation for live musical theater,” said David Beil, Central Kitsap School District spokesman.
According to David Clough, director of “Godspell” and OHS teacher, the school had not competed before.
“We entered it just to see how we would do,” he said. “We did pretty good actually. We were a little concerned being the first time we entered and being a little school. And this is only the second musical I have done.”
Tom McVicker, OHS choir teacher, deserves “an awful lot of the credit as well because he was the music director. We couldn’t have been nearly as successful as we were without him. He gets ridiculous performances out of his kids,” Clough said.
Funding seems to be the biggest obstacle of putting on a play, as costs can range between $1,500 and $2,500 or more, but Clough said the reasons for the difficulty of putting on quality theater, especially musical theater, are many.
“Cost is one,” he said. “The clientele that the school serves and the willingness of administration to allow performances to be done is part of that. I think a lot of credit goes to the 5th for recognizing that, and encouraging students to become part of theater.”
