Seizing the day as well as 14 nominations
Coppell High School and New Tech High @ Coppell students participate in the CHS fall musical, “Newsies,” which took place Nov. 1-3 and 9-10. The production was nominated for 14 Schmidt & Jones HS Musical Theatre Awards.
May 14, 2020
The Coppell High School Theatre Department is known for its experienced actors and actresses, engaging sets and realistic costumes that captivate their audience.
Recently the department has received 14 nominations for “Newsies” from the Schmidt & Jones HS Musical Theatre Awards.
“I am so humbled and honored to be nominated for these Schmidt & Jones awards,” CHS theater director Karen Ruth said. “The 14 nominations says that our program is growing and hopefully becoming stronger, which is exciting to be a part of.”
The Schmidt & Jones Musical Theatre Awards is a high school musical theater competition program which schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area can compete in each year.
If the CHS theatre department is awarded, it would be an esteemed honor. According to senior drama club officer and best supporting actress nominee Angeli Smith, if the department was awarded any awards it would set the bar at a new level for the predesceing students at CHS.
This award is only awarded to students in the North Texas area for those who are accepted beforehand. This prestigious award is very selective about who they even consider and includes a lot of North Texas groups.
“The way I like to describe them is like the Tony’s for North Texas High schools,” senior lighting designer Francesca Jaubert said. “It is a prestigious award ceremony that recognizes the best musicals in this part of Texas.”
It also creates an environment where nominees have the opportunity for healthy competition and learning.
“When I was nominated, I smiled for a good three days straight, not even exaggerating,” Smith said. “It was genuinely a landmark happy moment in my life.”
For many the nomination only confirmed their talent. The audience, as well as the judges, sensed the positive energy radiating off the performance of “Newsies.”
“Telling a story and being able to influence an audience is so rewarding in itself,” Smith said. “But to be nominated for an actual award, it’s incredible.”
The award is not the only reward they earn. The effort put into the lights, sounds, the costumes, the set pieces, the music, the dances becomes apparent.
“I love creating an experience that an audience can walk away from going, ‘Wow that was amazing,” Jaubert said. “The amount of joy everyone expressed was how my work paid off.
The performance of “Newsies” sold out, setting a new record for CHS. With every aspect of the show, the audience can tell the amount of dedication and hard work that was put in was clear.
“The nominations are a reflection on the hard work, dedication, and talent that’s in the department,” Smith said. “This show really came together last minute, but we couldn’t have done it without the endless hours of pure hard work and effort that was put into this show by every single person.”
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