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By: STO Lia Graham, Texas High School, Troupe 2526
First off, let’s address the elephant in the room (or screen if you must): this year is different, and in turn, our Texas Thespians State Festival will be different. As the world struggles to find something normal in a time of constant change, your State Thespian Officers, along with the adult board, have been working together to plan out a festival that will not only be the first virtual state festival held this year, but a part of history as well. The other Texas STOs and I are confident in saying that this will be the best Texas Thespians State Festival ever to be held! Workshops will be longer, Key-Note speakers will be added, and history will be made! As far as the in-person aspect and meeting tons of new people, we rewrote the stars by creating plenty of new opportunities for interactions. All eyes will be on us as we pioneer into a virtual world. The price of attending is only $50, ensuring more people from our state, and possibly others, will attend; this will expand your opportunities to meet new people! Here are a few things to look forward to at our 2020 Virtual Texas State Thespian Festival. The Merch. For the longest time, the Texas Thespians Community has been advertising their desires for more branded items. Well, from now on we will have an online merch store that will sell things like notebooks, sweaters, charging blocks and more! This year, you will be able to brand Texas Thespians beyond just shirts and pins. The Workshops. Workshops are a huge part of festival, and people usually feel like there are never enough options. We wanted to find a way to keep them interactive and informational, so we have a wider variety of options, longer sessions, and not to mention access to all content until January 2021. The Key-Note Speakers. Last year our speaker was Wilson Jermaine Heredia from Rent. He spoke to us about how theatre impacted his life and shared his talent with all 8,000+ of us. This year we will have multiple Key-Note Speakers who will share with us how theatre has impacted their lives and also perform pieces from some of the greatest shows you could think of. You will also have the opportunity to send in questions to our four key-note speakers. These questions will be answered during the live festival. The Interactions. Do you ever lie awake at night with a million dreams of festival in your mind? So do we! If you’re worried about not being able to meet new people during festival, there will be plenty of new ways to interact. Our festival platform will allow for interactions between thespians, colleges, vendors and even STOs in a new virtual way. Through our new online platform, we are able to include grants, Minute to Give it and lots and lots of scholarships virtually, and in case you haven’t heard, you may attend festival individually without your troupe! The STO Candidates. Even though the process will be online, candidates this year will not miss out on wearing the renowned candidate hats. Candidates usually feel like they’re walking a tightrope during festival to impress the STOs. This year, the candidate process is updated to where candidates have more options to connect with STOs while also going to workshops and attending shows. Through this process, the STOs will still be able to determine what candidates will be best for the job even though we can’t assess your skills of corralling people to buy ducks. Like usual, we want to see people who are confident in saying, “This is me, and here’s what I bring to the table.” The Theme. Some people look forward to the ducks, some await the best shows in Texas, and some reside on the other side awaiting the festival theme! Sadly, it will not be revealed on this blog post, BUT read closely and something might come alive. If this list of things doesn’t excite you enough, just think about the ducks! Until next time, Your 2020 Texas State Thespian Officers
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By: STO Lia Graham, Texas High School, Troupe 2526
This semester, to say the least, has been different. No one saw it coming our way or could have prevented it. What we loved to do most was taken away from us. The people we cherished were separated from our reach. Valuable memories and traditions were halted abruptly. When we were forced to find a new normal, we had to learn to survive in a new, more virtual way. However, even with lingering dilemmas, the schools, troupes and individuals in Texas continued to grow and work together united by their passion for theatre. Entering into January, we had troupes sharing their growth with us STOs through social media. We saw troupes attending other schools’ shows, advocating for their theatre and being leaders in their community. Next, in February, we welcomed the new State Thespian Officers and said farewell to the old. We celebrated Valentine's day by learning some “February Favorites” of the Texas Thespians. In March, we hit the ground running with a Theatre in Our Schools Month. Troupes everywhere in Texas stepped up and spoke out for TIOSM, along with the city Katy having Theatre in Our Schools Month declared for the first time. Then, we faced the biggest plot twist of them all. In mid-March, schools all over were experiencing cancellations, shows were postponed, and even Broadway went dark. It was unexpected and a time of trial for us all that is still affecting the normality of our daily lives. Finally, in May, we had no choice but to work with what we were given. Graduating seniors were not given a normal final semester as we gave them virtual farewell hugs. Troupes had end of the year ceremonies and inductions virtually, while attempting to still maintain some traditions. As STOs we had to postpone our retreat to August. We were pushed to create a new way of training troupes for Leadership Day. We were also thankful for the extra time we had to work thoroughly on tasks and develop something brand new for troupes everywhere. As troupes we were faced with the sad news that shows had to be canceled, ceremonies would be online, and traditions would be skipped. However, we have grown closer and have learned not to take things for granted. As individuals we lost time with her friends and were hit with huge changes, but in the end, we discovered how to stay sane while alone, created new sources of entertainment and adjusted, overcoming the circumstances we were put in. As Texas Thespians, we survived by supporting each other through these tough times. We can’t control what is happening around us, but we can control how we react to it. Stay strong Texas Thespians. You are not alone. With lots of love, Your 2020 Texas State Thespian Officers Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians' Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians By: STO Lia Graham, Texas HS, Troupe 2526
Hey Texas Thespians! During this quarantine, my fellow State Thespian Officers and I have had to adjust to a new way of living...just like you all. Despite many things trying to bring down our moods, we have persevered and found joy in the simplest of things. Thus, I bring you a very chaotic, creative list of questions that have been answered by each STO. We hope our answers can remind you to stay positive and fill your days with fun. Without further ado, 13 questions with 18 STOs. 1. What are 3 words you would use to describe your quarantine? “Boring, long and uneventful.” -Brenna “Messy, productive and long-lived.” -Olivia 2. What SpongeBob character do you relate to the most? “I wish I could say Larry the Lobster, but I’m Gary: unimpressed at everything.” -Jackson B. “Probably Patrick because I'm always hungry. Always.” -Avery “SpongeBob...due to the fact that I am a really bad driver. People should be afraid to get on the road with me.” -Bradyn 3. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like french fries? “15. Is that allowed?” -Jackson L. “10. If I had the choice to only live off of potatoes, I'd be doing it by now.” -Jackson B. “A solid 9. They've betrayed me before, but overall they're pretty good.” -Annie 4. Have you picked up any new hobbies? “I have been going to get the mail a lot.” -Brenna “I've actually been working on writing a script.” -Cody “I can make friendship bracelets really well.” -Megan 5. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? “Classic chocolate. Simplicity is key.” -Avery “Bluebell’s Banana Pudding, of course.” -Campbell “Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia by far!” -Lia “I gotta go with chocolate chip cookie dough!” -Caleb 6. What is one positive thing about quarantine? “I am bonding with my family more, even though it's not really a choice.” -Piper “It gives you a lot of time to meditate and focus on yourself.” -Elisa “It gives you more time to spend with family and do things you didn't have time to do originally.” -Victoria 7. Do you have any pets? “I have 7 cats. Agustus, Sophie, Gracie, Max, Oliver, Sammy and Maddie.” -Olivia “I have a really big stuffed animal elephant that I consider a pet.” -Alyssa “I have a pet bunny named Noodles, she has pink hair.” -Lia 8. Do you play video games? “I played Madden once. Some people (aka myself) say I was a beast at it, and others not so much...” -Campbell “Pocket Edition Minecraft, but other than that not really.” -Annie “If you count The Sims.” -Jarrett 9. What's a funny quarantine story? “I was walking my dogs right next to a pond. They saw a duck and they pulled me into the pond.” -Piper “I got on NBC News for building my school in Minecraft!” -Jackson L. “While I was driving, I turned under an overpass, but I got in the wrong lane. In a fit of panic, I pulled to the right and then drifted into my lane, so I guess you can call me baby driver.” -Tyler 10. Be honest…how many hours do you spend on Tik Tok a day? “Honestly, I think like 10 hours.” -Alyssa “Oh, it's somewhere between 4 and 18 dependant upon the mood.” -Bradyn “Maybe like 10 minutes.” -Cody 11. What is your favorite tech position you've been or character you’ve played? “My favorite character that i've played is the Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach!” -Jarrett “Elle Woods.” -Elisa “Stage Manager for Into The Woods.” -Megan 12. Any hints on what the STOs are planning for this year? “Something crazy that's going to knock your socks off.” -Jackson L. “You're going to be stuck with us for a while.” -Avery “Thats a secret. We keep it confidential here.” -Victoria “ :) “ -Tyler 13. What is this year's festival theme? “Dehumidifiers and more!” -Olivia “Shrek the Musical.” -Jackson B. “Agriculture: farms, plowing, and live cows!” -Annie “It's going to be an anti-theme where the whole thing is we don't have a theme. It's like irony? Get it?” -Caleb We are proud to see all of the truly amazing things y'all are doing to make do with our circumstances. We know it hasn't been easy, but we do know that the Texas Thespians are one strong group of people! We'll see you all very soon, Your 2020 Texas State Thespian Officers! Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians By: STO Jarrett Stewart, Sunnyvale HS, Troupe 7532
Hello Texas Thespians! As many of you know, this past month theatre students across the country celebrated Theatre In Our Schools Month; an entire month dedicated to theatre students supporting each other, raising awareness about the impact of theatre education, and drawing attention to the importance of all students having access to educational theatre. As this month comes to a close we wanted to share 3 major takeaways from Theatre in Our Schools Month that you can take into the rest of the year.
Keep it up, Your 2020 Texas State Thespian Officers! Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians Hey Texas Thespians! Before the 2019 Texas State Thespian Officers officially leave office and pass our torch to the 2020 Texas State Thespian officers, we would like to remind all of you about the upcoming month. If you didn’t already know, the entire month of March is Theatre In Our Schools Month! And in support of #TIOSM, it is our job as Texas Thespians to promote Arts Advocacy in our state.
Here are some ways to celebrate Theatre In Our Schools Month:
With that being said, we encourage all of you guys to participate in #TIOSM and to be amazing Arts Advocates. We believe in each and every single one of you. Thank you for such an amazing year. It has been a pleasure to serve all 8,000+ Texas Thespians. Because of you guys, we were able to make this place better than we had found it. We’re signing off, The 2019 Texas State Thespian Officers Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians By: Tiffany Hoang, Foster HS Troupe 7961
Hello Texas Thespians! We would like to start off by thanking everyone who attended the 2019 Texas Thespian State Festival! As the year is coming to a close, we would like to reflect on the many things the Texas Thespian Chapter was able to accomplish for our amazing Thespians. This year, we accomplished the following:
With much love, The 2019 State Thespian Officers By: Tiffany Hoang, Foster HS Troupe 7961
Greetings Texas Thespians! Can you believe that festival begins NEXT WEEK?! As the date draws nearer, we would like to gently remind all of you about a couple of things that will help you prepare for the three days at the Texas Thespian State Festival. Theme Days- Make sure to pack the appropriate clothing for the theme days. Thursday: Building Each Other Up! - Wear your troupe shirt Friday: Building Our Futures! - Wear black for college auditions, scholarship interviews, and individual events Saturday: Building Our Creativity! - Dress up as your favorite character or dream job STO Workshops- We invite you to attend our workshops! Our Advocacy Workshop will be hosted by STO Ethan and STO Tiffany. In this workshop, we will teach you how to be an advocate for the theatre arts and play the ‘Elevator Speech’ game which will teach you how to deliver a speech and how to speak properly to adults. Our Leadership Workshop will be hosted by STO Jack and STO Jess. In this workshop, we will show you different ways to become an effective leader and play games that will strengthen team building and listening skills. STO Booth- Bring money to purchase merchandise. Ribbons for your name tags, buttons and pins, and Ducks, ducks, & MORE DUCKS! Recommended Packing List- IE Blacks Comfortable walking shoes Portable chargers Backpack or fanny pack to hold belongings Reusable water bottles (we will have water stations!) Theme Day outfits Extra cash for snacks, drinks, and booths Animate Your Troupe!- Want your troupe to be featured on the BIG screens at TTSF19? Make a video with no audio of your troupe! Still pictures and animated videos are allowed. Submit anything, as long as it’s appropriate! Videos should be around 45 seconds to a minute. Submit these videos to steward.savage@texasthespians.org The deadline is Monday, November 18th, 2019 Remember to download the app ‘Guidebook’ on your mobile devices. In Guidebook, you’ll be able to see the master schedule of the entire festival which includes the times for all of the different workshops, main stage shows, late night events, IE performances, etc. TTSF19 Guidebook will go LIVE at the beginning of next week. Be ready... We can’t wait to see y'all at festival! Love, Your 2019 Texas State Thespian Officers Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians By: Tiffany Hoang, Foster HS Troupe 7961
What is One Act Play? Hello Texas Thespians! If you’re new to high school theatre, you’re probably wondering what all the hype about the One Act Play season is about. High school theatre troupes all over the state of Texas participate in OAP of Texas’ University Interscholastic League (UIL) in their designated division through levels of competition. Each theatre troupe must pick a published and approved play, and cut it down to 18-40 minutes to be performed. And of course, there are VERY specific rules and guidelines that each theatre troupe MUST follow. But why participate in this event you may ask? Here’s five reasons why I think you should participate in your high school’s One Act Play: 1.) You WILL Be Competing Normally, high school theatre students are accustomed to performing shows that are meant for entertaining family members and friends. However, OAP is in a completely different ballpark. You and your cast/crew members are performing your show in order to compete with other schools in your division. You will have the opportunity to advance from District, Bi-District, Area, Region, and hopefully making it to State. I personally think the competition aspect of UIL OAP is extremely invigorating and keeps you on your feet, pushing you to do better with each rehearsal and each performance. 2.) You WILL Grow As An Actor or Techie The One Act competition will give you the opportunity to cultivate and improve your craft. Both actors and techies will receive critiques from judges at the end of every competition, which will be taken into serious consideration for their next rehearsal or performance. Actors and techies get to fine tune their skills and abilities through the eyes of different people with theatre experiences. 3.) You WILL Have The Opportunity To Win Awards This isn’t THE most important thing about One Act, but it is definitely worth mentioning. Hard working actors and techies will be recognized for their outstanding performance at each competing event. Some of the awards include Best Actor, Best Actress, Outstanding Technician, All-Star Cast, and Honorable Mention All-Star Cast. Again, not the most important thing to be focused on, but it is definitely a plus! 4.) You WILL Learn Order and Chaos The entire One Act process will be extremely stressful. However, your director and cast members will be the group of people that will help you through it all. Your rock, if you will. Sometimes you’ll want to rip their heads off and other times you’ll want to laugh at each other until you all start sounding like a uniform, wheezing mantra. In the end, the competition will bring all of you together in order to work and get things done. You’ll learn the importance of focusing, listening, teamwork, organizational skills, and self-awareness during this very crucial time. 5.) You WILL Have Fun! In the end, if you and your troupe does not advance very far, hopefully you would have still had fun and treasure unforgettable memories of the entire process! Remember that theatre is a form of expression, and if you feel like it’s beginning to seem more like a chore, then One Act probably isn’t for you. I believe in you. Go out there and Break-A-Leg Texas Thespians! With much love, Tiffany Hoang Follow Our Social Media! Texas Thespians’ Instagram: @texasthespians Texas Thespians’ Twitter: @Texas_Thespians Texas STO Twitter: @Texas_STO Texas Thespians Snapchat: Texas_Thespians Facebook: Texas Thespians Youtube: Texas Thespians ~By Asa Fris, McKinney North HS
We’ve all been in a play or musical where something feels off. Either you’re really tired, your voice hurts, your grades hurt, or you just don’t feel good. Unfortunately, these are signs that you are probably not taking as good of care of yourself as you should be. And with Festival just around the corner, we want you to be in top shape for the amazing weekend ahead! Fortunately, we have some helpful tips and tricks to help prevent a lot of these problems from happening to ensure that whatever performance you’re giving is the best it can be. Sleep! As the National Sleep Foundation (NSP) says “Sleep is food for the brain.” As performers we must take care of all parts of ourselves: mind, body, and voice. Without sleep, especially as teens, we cannot maintain a healthy mind, and an unhealthy mind means a weaker performance. Ok, when I’m in a show, I feel so tired… what can I do? The first step is to know how much sleep you need. The NSP that only 15% of teens get the required 8-10 hours of sleep per night. And unlike losing your voice and regaining it later, lost sleep can't come back. The negative effects of not getting enough sleep will tend to remain present even if you have temporarily fixed your sleep schedule. So what are some things I can do to help? Have a set time to go to sleep. Let’s say my school starts at 7:30 in the morning (which it does). That means I need to get up at 6:45, so eight hours back would be 10:45 and I need twenty minutes to get to sleep so my set time to get to bed is 10:25. I now know without a doubt if I don’t get in bed by 10:25, I’m likely not going to be getting enough sleep. Ok, I know when I need to get to sleep by, but how do I ensure I do get to sleep by that time? Manage your workload. Homework. What do you do if you have homework you think will keep you up past your set time to sleep? A big culprit here is procrastination. We all procrastinate to some degree, but sometimes you need to get your work done when it’s assigned. Communicate to your teachers about times like tech weeks, respectfully asking for deadlines to be extended, or grading to be more lenient. (Don’t forget to ask your director to email the other teachers and give them a heads up about late night rehearsals!) Be wary of other distractions Technology like phones or laptops can keep us up, and while checking on our feeds at the end of the day can be relaxing, we can easily get hooked. Suddenly we’ve passed that set time when we need to sleep. Some methods to help with this include not allowing your phone to come into your bedroom, or setting an alarm on your phone for when you need to put it away and start to sleep. So what are you waiting for?? Get to bed already! Hey Kids! It’s a new March! The first and only one of 2018! And I’m very sure that we all know what that means….
THEATRE IN OUR SCHOOLS! Woooooooooooo! A whole month of advocating sounds absolutely fantastic, and just what we need to keep advancing educational theatre all around the state, or at least it feels that way until you stop to think about all that advocating and how exactly you’re going to do it…. Don’t worry, we all can feel like that sometimes. Fighting for the cause can be a daunting task, and when you try to tackle it head on without a plan, you can get a little lost. FEAR NOT, however, because we’re here to do the best we can to help you keep that fighting spirit! The first step is to give you guys the tools for advocating, so keep up with the blog during March to get some nice and easy ways to spread awareness and love for educational theatre. See, I’ll start us off! IDEA #1: One of the cool things about educational theatre is that one of it’s many uses is to.. You know… educate! So take the initiative to spread some amazing and kind of weird facts about theatre around your school! Maybe your school has an announcements broadcast, get it on there! Or Maybe find an empty space on the wall to tape them up daily for all passerby to see! Here’s a couple facts to get you started: DID YOU KNOW THAT... 1. ‘Theatre’ comes from a Greek verb meaning ‘to behold’ 2. Shakespeare's Globe is the only building in London allowed to have a thatched roof since the Great Fire in 1666 3. Two seats are permanently bolted open at the Palace Theatre for the theatre ghosts to sit in 4. William Shakespeare once had to play Lady Macbeth when Hal Berridge, the boy playing her, died suddenly 5. Walt Disney World, Florida, has a record 1.2 million costumes in its theatrical wardrobes 6. Theatre has a longstanding history in America. The first theatre here was built in Virginia in 1716, 60 years before the Declaration of Independence 7. When Shakespeare’s Globe burned down in 1613, the one casualty was a man whose breeches caught fire; they were put out with a bottle of ale. 8. Thespis is the man first credited with the role of an actor, he stepped forward from the greek chorus to portray a character (giving us the name thespians!) 9. In May 1849 the Astor Place riot broke out in New York and it was caused by two actors arguing over who was better at performing Shakespeare. 10. The word ‘tragedy’ comes from a Greek expression translating roughly to ‘goat song’ 11. Ancient Greek audiences stamped their feet rather than clapping their hands to applaud 12. The oldest play still in existence is The Persians by Aeschylus, written in 472 BC. 13. World Theatre Day has been held on March 27 every year since 1962 when it was the opening day of the “Theatre of Nations” season in Paris. 14. The original concept for West Side Story was East Side Story where a Jew and a Catholic fall in love. 15. Saying "Break A Leg" in the theatre didn't start until the 1920s. 16. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic The Phantom of the Opera is the longest running Broadway show of all time. Best of luck, and remember - ADVOCATE AND APPRECIATE Please be sure to tell us all about your ways of advocating by posting about it and tagging us or contacting us directly! |
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