UPDATE: Into the Woods took home four awards at the Schmidt and Jones ceremony (Hilary Taylor for Best Supporting Actress, Mackenzie Orr for Best Actor, Maggie Hunter for Best Actress and the entire show was awarded Best Musical).

Beth Anne Carroll
Staff Writer

After a successful run earlier this school year, the cast of Into the Woods has received 10 nominations for the upcoming Schmidt and Jones Awards, which are given to the area’s top high school performing artists.

The Coppell theater production was nominated for Best Leading, Supporting, Minor Actor and Actress categories, Best Male and Female Ensemble Performers, Scene Design, as well as a nomination for Best Musical. The ceremony will be held tonight at the Irving Arts Center.

This is the first year for the Schmidt and Jones Awards, which are being held by Lyric Stage in Irving. They were inspired by the Tommy Tune Awards, held annually in Houston, which are aimed at honoring exceptional student performers.

Directors can choose to enter their musical in the competition and have it viewed by judges of the award. Nominees are announced later in the year, with winners being announced at an awards ceremony.

“I just want the students to receive any awards they can because they are all so talented and our theater department does not have very many opportunities to win awards,” director Lisa Tabor said. “It just seemed like a great opportunity.”

Another reason Tabor chose to enter the musical into competition was the $500 scholarship that is given to winners in each category. Also, the awards have a connection to the national awards.

The cast and crew were thrilled when they first found out about their nominations, and became even more excited as they learned more about the awards.

“I was excited,” said senior Maggie Hunter, who is nominated for Best Lead Actress. “This was our first year doing this and we did not really know what we were up against so it was really exciting for us to get as many nominations as we did and to get one myself.”

The cast is also looking forward to gathering with the area’s best actors for the award ceremony, and getting to perform a number from the musical.

“There are a lot of really talented kids around here,” said senior Mackenzie Orr, who is nominated for Best Lead Actor. “I am just going to have fun and we get to perform. It is going to be fun to get to sit with everybody and remember the show since it has been so long.”

While all of the nominees would love to win, they admitted to being excited just to be nominated and are looking forward to seeing some of the productions from the other nominated schools.

“I have only seen one of the other nominated shows so I still do not really have any expectations. We do not really know what the other productions look like. I am just excited to be nominated and it will be a really fun experience,” Hunter said.

The nominations also hold even more significance for a couple of members of the cast. Hunter and Orr both hope to pursue musical theater majors in college, so their nominations contain a bit of reassurance for their futures.

“It is a nice affirmation,” Orr said. “It is nice to be compared to people outside of Coppell and think that maybe this is a good choice for me outside of high school.”

After months of preparation in the fall, the nominees are finally reaping the benefits. Tabor was especially proud of the hard work her students put into the production and their nominations.

“I was so proud,” Tabor said. “I think they picked a really great group of nominees.”