Acting students in Fort Myers, Cape Coral receive awards

It was a big weekend for the theater kids from Southwest Florida.

Students from two local theater schools won several national awards at the Junior Theater Festival Texas from June 25-27. The festival is one of several related events considered the world’s largest celebration of children performing musical theater.

One of the top prizes went to 13-year-old River Reed, who played “Bruce” in the Melody Lane Performing Arts Center musical “Matilda Jr.”. He won the Freddie G. All-Festival Individual Performance Award.

The Cape Coral resident couldn’t believe it when they called his name at the award ceremony.

“Only four or five people got the All Festival Individual Performance Award,” said Reed. “It was just amazing to hear and see my name on the big screen and get on stage. I was just overjoyed. “

He wasn’t alone either.

Three other Southwest students won individual awards at the Sugar Land, Texas festival. So does the troupe from their respective theater schools: Melody Lane in Cape Coral and Creative Theater Workshop in Fort Myers.

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About 2,200 people from across the United States attended the event, according to a press release from the festival. The actors were all between 8 and 18 years old.

“It’s a really big deal,” says Michelle Kuntze, artistic director of the non-profit Creative Theater Workshop. “There are so many talented groups from all over the United States.”

Therefore, winning these awards meant a lot to her and her students.

“It’s just unbelievable,” says Kuntze. “It’s really encouraging.”

The 24 cast members from Melody Lane won a Freddie G. Outstanding Production Award for the musical “Matilda Jr.” and the 21 cast members from Creative Theater Workshop won a Freddie G. Excellence in Ensemble Work Award for its production of “High School Musical Jr.” “

In addition, Creative Theater Workshop students JJ Freitas and Abigail Lagergren and Melody Lane students Reed and Yovanna Ignjatic were named Junior Theater Festival All-Stars. The award honors particularly dynamic student actors.

Freitas, 9, of Fort Myers was not there when his award was announced, but his director told him later over dinner. “That was really exciting,” he says.

The festival’s judges included playwright / actor Douglas Lyons (“Breathe”, “Chicken & Biscuits”), Broadway actress Krystina Alabado (“Mean Girls”, “American Idiot”) and Steven G. Kennedy (vice president of the festival -Co-producers iTheatrics.). ).

The jury had a lot of praise for both theater companies, according to the festival’s press release.

“I can’t wait to see where all these kids will be in five years,” Lyons said of the Creative Theater Workshop. “I saw a lot of stardust on this stage.”

Alabado agreed. “Creative Theater Workshop is a growing group of young artists with a lot of heart!” She said.

The Melody Lane students impressed the jury with their sophisticated, emotional performance.

“It felt like I was watching a Broadway show,” Lyons said. “The actors were so committed to the story that I felt moved.”

Kennedy called her production “a crowd-pleaser”. “We saw great storytelling and wonderful performances,” he said.

The festival featured performances of school, extracurricular, and community theater programs from across the United States. Each troupe played about 10-15 minutes of their respective musicals without the usual costumes and props.

Festival winners received either cups or medals.

The Junior Theater Festival typically hosts two US festivals per year – the Junior Theater Festival Atlanta and Junior Theater West in Sacramento, California. But both events were replaced this year with an online event called the 2021 JTF Online Extravaganza.

The Texas Festival was the only in-person event that year, and students from local drama schools say it was well worth the trip.

“We had a great time in Texas!” says Reed. “It was easy to be able to perform and be with all of my friends.”

Freitas sees it the same way. “It was fun and exciting,” he says. “We have to do so much together. We have to hang out. “

Winning was never the goal, says Melody Lane theater director Dana Alvarez. She emphasized this again and again with her drama students.

“It’s a festival,” says Alvarez. “It’s about celebrating your hard work and the success of others.”

Whether they won or not, she was deeply proud of the performance of her children on the festival stage.

“Really, they were amazing,” she says. “It was the best they’d ever seen and sounded. … theater kids tend to be really good under pressure. “

Both Creative Theater Workshop and Melody Lane have already participated in the festival and won important prizes there.

The Junior Theater Festival also hosts events in the UK. Last year, according to the press release, almost 15,000 people worldwide attended an event of the Junior Theater Festival.

Connect with this reporter: email crunnells@gannett.com or connect on social media at Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), and @ crunnells1 (Instagram).

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