Thespians have act together
Creekview drama students to compete Saturday at state event
06:03 PM CDT on Thursday, May 5, 2005
Creekview High School's theater department has been on a roll since the school opened in 1998: Once again, drama students are going to state.
The teenagers, most of them seniors, will compete Saturday night in Austin against students from seven other schools – including Arlington and Flower Mound high schools – in the one-act play category. Creekview students will be staging the prize-winning play Intimate Apparel, by black playwright Lynn Nottage.
Set in New York in 1905, Apparel is the story of Esther, a black seamstress who sews under garments for well-heeled ladies and not-so respectable working ladies.
According to records from the University Interscholastic League, this is Creekview's fifth appearance at the state competition. Creekview High School won first place in 2001 and second place in 2002 and 2003. Last year, the school was forced to change its play selection, a trimmed version of Six Degrees of Separation, because the school administration deemed it too controversial.
Creekview is the only school among this year's contestants with a first-place win in the category. The school also has appeared the most times at the competition, according to the UIL.
Going to state the first time wasn't as special as it will be now, said senior D'Angelo Lacy, 17, who plays George, the man who marries Esther.
"We've just put so much energy into everyone," said D'Angelo, who plans to major in musical theater at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"After it was announced, we just haven't stopped smiling," said senior Amy Garrett, 18, a future theater major.
Junior Samantha Harrison, 17, said she was looking forward to seeing plays by the other schools.
Many of the participants have described the experience as thrilling but emotionally draining. They said that they could relate to the emotions the characters were going through and that acting them out frequently brought the actors to tears.
Amy said that was hard "because your whole life is being poured out into something."
Senior Charissa Graniero, 18, said performing the play has been the most meaningful learning experience she's gone through.
"It's so big," said Charissa, who's especially excited because her brother, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, is planning to attend the performance.
Francesca Eaddy, 18, who plays Esther, said she was nervous but felt comforted knowing that she'd be performing in her hometown and that family members would be there to cheer her on.
The student actors also said one of the best things about the performance is how much they've learned from one another. Special kudos went to Samantha, whose performance has been so good that D'Angelo said she was "just the thing we needed to connect as a group."
Students credited their three directors for bringing out the best in them. They said the directors pushed and demanded a lot, but the sweat and tears paid off.
Director and teacher Demond Wilson, who as a high school student in Plano ISD also went to a state drama competition, said he was proud of his students and praised them for giving their all.
"These kids want to be successful," Mr. Wilson said.
The students said winning the top prize hasn't really crossed their minds. They said their priority is to put on the best show they can.
"I just don't want it to end," said senior Eric Nietubicz, 18. "Unfortunately, this is kind of where the road ends."
Material from the New York Daily News was used in this report.
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