Prime Stage Drama Awards celebrate high school performers: Meet the nominees

Photo above from “Our Town” courtesy of Penn Hills High School via Prime Stage Theater.

Since 1991, the Gene Kelly Awards have honored high schoolers in our region who sing, dance and handle the many jobs that go into producing a high school musical. But until just a few years ago, there were no awards for teens who put just as much work into the plays that appear on high school stages each fall.

Kidsburgh is glad to share the list of nominees for this year’s Prime Stage Theater Drama Awards.

“This will be our fourth year of offering these awards to area high school students, and we are making a concerted effort to expand the number of participating schools,” says John Dolphin, the theater’s Drama Awards director.

The awards honor non-musical productions — one-acts or full-length plays. To be eligible for a category, a department must be student-run, though the students are often mentored and assisted by adults at their schools.

“Since all positions involved in producing a stage production are important,” Dolphin says, the 16 award categories include both backstage and onstage positions. Students will perform short scenes from their productions during the awards ceremony at Prime Stage on Jan. 29.

Monteze Freeland, co-artistic director of City Theatre, will serve as the event’s emcee and Mike Clark from WTAE-TV will attend as a special guest.

Schools will receive a trophy for each category that they win. And winning students will receive a trophy as well, along with a certificate embossed with the Prime Stage Theatre corporate seal.

“These kids are doing amazing things on their stages and we feel that these accomplishments should be spotlighted,” Dolphin says. “We at Prime Stage are so proud of our area students and what they are accomplishing on their stages.”

The nominees for this year’s Prime Stage Drama Awards, listed alphabetically by school, are:

Best Actor

• Lincoln Marshal as Sheridan Whiteside in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Nathan Connelly as Wayne Hopkins in “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Arjun Puri as Boy/Peter in “Peter and the Star Catcher” at North Allegheny Intermediate High School
• Ethan Herr as Stage Manager in “Our Town” at Penn Hills High School
• Nicolai Ezolt at Sheridan Whiteside in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Pine-Richland High School

Best Actress

• Sophia Rike as Maggie Cutler in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Echo Shomaeker as Megan Jones in “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Jay Zhu as Macbeth in “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Cara Vereb as Heche in “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School
• Emma Leghorn as Sheridan Whiteside in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School

Best Supporting Actor

• Gavin Windows as Brett in “Winter Break” at Deer Lakes High School
• Noah Miller as Dr. Bradley in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Leo Matthews as Rogue Wave in “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Aaron Little as Duncan, Porter & Seyton in “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Cole Trieste as Efrain Salas in “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Supporting Actress

• Ady Burgoyne as Mrs. Paddy in “The Curious Savage” at Avonworth High School
• Elise Schaeffer as A.J. in “Winter Break” at Deer Lakes High School
• Marina Dunham as Miss Preen in “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Ashley Kimmell as Leanne, Helga/Frenchy in “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Lucille Spang as Angela in “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Director

• Kiley Vande Geest and Andrew Kaehly, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Lauren Mutmansky and Aaron Reed, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School
• Eva Lowder, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
• Michael Lattari, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Pine-Richland High School
• Luke Greb, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School

Best Student Stage Manager

• Kaylee Dunham, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Margaret Sager, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Luke Greb, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School
• Jeffrey Brunner and Tommy Kann, “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Alec Mahathey and Madeline Potts, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Scenic Design and/or Fabrication Team

• Scenic design team: “The Man Who Came To Dinner,” Fox Chapel Area High School
• Jacob Baker, Margaret Sager & Lily Stalewski: “Puffs,” Hampton High School
• Reagan Ball, Grace Durzo & Charle Palmer: “Peter and the Star Catcher,” North Allegheny Intermediate High School
• Bridget Fogle and Isaac Jones: “We Are The Sea,” Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Parker Roscoe: “Macbeth,” Shady Side Academy Senior School

Best Student Lighting Design and/or Operation

• Jacob Baker, Michael Petrucci & Garret Vasil: “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Claire Bandura and Samantha Lang: “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Luke Greb & Braiden Hoffman: “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School
• Carson Davis: “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Brady Bandik: “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Prop Design and/or Fabrication

• Sofia Liberto, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Samantha Nicely, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Jordan Jones and Sean Mutschler, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Luke Greb, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School
• Aaron Reed, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Costume Design And/Or Fabrication

• Grace Schmigel, ‘The Curious Savage” at Avonworth High School
• Ta’Haera Griffin, “She Kills Monsters” at Carlynton High School
• Sophia Liberto, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Costume team, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Costume team, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School

Best Student Makeup Design And/Or Application

• Kennedy Segeleon & Inez Webb, “She Kills Monsters” at Carlynton High School
• Carolyn Caracciolo, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Shane Noone, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Marena Miller, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Chloe Ball, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School

Best Student Use Of Creative Special Effects

• Anna Hall and. Lucy Vetter, “She Kills Monsters” at Carlynton High School
• Jacob Baker, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Chris Petraglia, “Peter and the Star Catcher” at North Allegheny Intermediate High School
• Brady Bandik, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Sound Design and/or Operation

• Brandon Smidle, Gabe Bernal and Lyra Klinedinst, “The Curious Savage” at Avonworth High School
• Melanie Roth and Claire Topper, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Nick Ewanco and Jack Turina, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Lily Toma, “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Lauren Mutmansky and Jeremy Thompson, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Backstage Run Crew

• Backstage Team, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• A. Wallace and Alice Anderson, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Backstage Team, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Quaker Valley High School
• Alexander Bi, Sam Davidheiser and Ada Lin, “Macbeth” at Shady Side Academy Senior School
• Cole Schafer, Nicole Pesanka, Zak Baumgardner, Myles Stanicar, Chloe Englert and
  Lydia Holmes, “Trap” at Thomas Jefferson High School

Best Student Program/Poster Design and/or Fabrication

• Willow Racan, Brienne Sharo and Marianna Vergerio, “Winter Break” at Deer Lakes High School
• Kaylee Dunham, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Fox Chapel Area High School
• Kiley Vande Geest, “Puffs” at Hampton High School
• Kevin Leslie and Sophia Muoio, “We Are The Sea” at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School
• Celeste Stokan, “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Pine-Richland High School

Best Overall Production

• Avonworth High School, “The Curious Savage”
• Fox Chapel Area High School, “The Man Who Came To Dinner”
• Hampton High School, “Puffs”
• Shady Side Academy Senior School, “Macbeth”
• Thomas Jefferson High School, “Trap”