Once again we attended the festival in our very own Downtown St Louis at the newly renovated Marriott Hotel on Washington Avenue.
We also used the convention center for shows, eating our meals and attending some of the workshops.
THIS YEAR AT STATE...
We took 37 kids and spend three days downtown. They are a great group of theater students and they all attended countless workshops on all sorts of theater topics, saw one act plays, and watched competitions
TRAVEL
We had Tim take us downtown in a bus and the students left after school was already out on Wed.
Waiting in the lobby for our rooms to be available...
The Troupe arrived at the Hotel around 4:30 on Wed
so that we could avoid all of the rush Thurs morning.
The conference has added some activities on Wed night to entice more to join early. We used it as time to prep for some of the competitions.
Elliot and the STOs were moving all of the swag bags from one side of the building to the other on the very first night we were there and it was back breaking!
We were just happy to be there and to have the time to settle in a bit.
Girls just wanna have fun!
KARAOKE on the first night!!!
Danny and Tea singing a duet!
Nicolaus and Ellie warming up for their IE competition...
THE FIRST GENERAL MEETING
LEADERSHIP
We not only compete on the creative side of the conference, but we also compete in the leadership opportunites ITS offers the students each year. The 2 year long ambassador program is awesome! ITS gives the students an opportunity to work along side adults on preparing and running a massive theater conference. The students hold elections, speak in front of all of the state's troupe officers, and go through a vote. If a student gets elected and holds an STO (student officer) position for a year they can pick up a lot of valuable skills.
FUN FACT: We are the second oldest and active troupe in MO, and we have been holding positions on the State student board for the last several years.
WEBSTER GROVES DRAMA REPRESENTING
ONCE AGAIN ON THE STUDENT OFFICER BOARD!!!
Elliot speaking in front of the whole conference at the meeting. He is a real pro!
The STOs for the 2018 MO State Thespian Conference
Trinity Madison is an STO (elect)
Trinity speaking in front of the whole conference with her fellow elects.
the 2018 MO State Thespian STO elects
THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Each year the conference invites a speaker who can talk to the students about their experiences in the theater industry. Mr. Finley has been on Broadway and shared some storied about his path to the great white way.
DR CLARK WINS AN AWARD AT STATE!!!
Trinity Madison (STO Elect) was given the honor of introducing Dr. Clark and giving him the award.
It was so cool to have our pricipal take home the award!! Go Webster!
Dr. Clark was awarded the Principal of the Year Award from ITS MO Chapter because of all if his support of the theater arts over his tenure at WGHS.
Elliot worked really hard to make that happen for him and our troupe.
THE SHOWS!!!
We saw two main stage productions at STATE:
#1.) We saw Pippin presented by a school from Springfield MO.
#2.) We saw a wonderful comedy called Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike by Christopher Durange.
#2.) We saw a wonderful comedy called Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike by Christopher Durange.
Elliot introduced the show to the audience
The main stage shows are both presented across the street from the hotel and we have to brave the weather to get over there.
They both performed in the Ferrar Theater
WORKSHOPS
The students and teachers can participate in countless workshops while they attend the conference and we encourage our thespians to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the staff.
The most popular workshops are the ones that teach dance. Here are members of our troupe crammed in a small room learning the HIP HOP routine in an hour long intensive.
There are all kinds of workshops offered during the conference and the students use guidebook on their smartphones to look up the schedule.The students are not allowed to stay in their rooms during the conference, they must participate in what's being offered.
THE TROUPE 191
SPONSORS
There is a ton of planning involved in taking this many kids to a STATE Conference.
Staying in the Hotel for a couple of nights with the troupe helps build community and also allows some of these students an opportunity to be away from their parents for a weekend.
Sophia and Zia hanging out after a long day of conference
LATE NIGHT!!!
The students and teachers can participate in countless workshops while they attend the conference and we encourage our thespians to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the staff.
The most popular workshops are the ones that teach dance. Here are members of our troupe crammed in a small room learning the HIP HOP routine in an hour long intensive.
There are all kinds of workshops offered during the conference and the students use guidebook on their smartphones to look up the schedule.The students are not allowed to stay in their rooms during the conference, they must participate in what's being offered.
THE TROUPE 191
SPONSORS
There is a ton of planning involved in taking this many kids to a STATE Conference.
The Troupe is lucky to have two dedicated sponsors.
Mr. Schaefer and Mrs. Romanowski.
Staying in the Hotel for a couple of nights with the troupe helps build community and also allows some of these students an opportunity to be away from their parents for a weekend.
Sophia and Zia hanging out after a long day of conference
LATE NIGHT!!!
We had to order some late night pizzas to keep the crew happy! When we ate it in the hallways they didn't like us too much...we got a little loud.
The pizza always goes quick...these kids are animals!
The best part about the conference
is that is is entirely about being yourself and doing theater.
We definitely let our freak flags fly!
and the theme was Aloha
The boys are back in town!
...and so are the girls
Meredith and Suzanna shared a room again this year.
Christian and Meredith feeling the love!
The teachers spend their time getting to talk with the other teacher in their department about 2nd semester plans, next year seasons, and curriculum. The also meet up with other theater teachers at other school and get to share ideas and tell stories.
MEALS
We ate over at the convention center. Lots of big tables and we always meet new people from the state during the meals. It is also a great place to scout out the talent that appeared on the main stage.
There is always a line to get into the meals...
We also spend time sharing info about workshops and the shows. What workshops are good...which ones to avoid kind of thing.
Troupe 191 has so much to celebrate with this particular trip. We have working very hard as a department to build a competitive group at STATE. We worked on lots of prepared material for performance competitions, scholarship auditions, and college auditions. We also prepared material for design IE's. The troupe assembled and rehearsed an IMPROV Team and a TECH team to compete as well.
We had most of our kids compete this year at State in one way or another. In the Individual Events - performance and design competition, Impov team, Tech team and State show. This included events in acting, musical theater, scenic design, costume design, sound design, and stage management. They were all judged and given feedback for their work.
PERFORMANCE IE
(DUET ACTING)
Mel Carroll and Trinity Madison performed a duet scene from a play titled Crimes of the Heart.
(SOLO Acting)
Suzzana Kessler (Senior) performed two cuttings in the competition. The first was from Rabbit Hole and the second was from Crimes of the Heart.
(GROUP Acting)
Elliot Williams, Christian Ragain, Trevor Zink, Basil Sessen, and Danny Chura performed a cutting from the play Never the Sinner by John Logan.
Ellie Gilstrap and Nicolaus Braun performed a cutting from the musical Last Five Years and did a great job with the piece. They both connected very well in the scene and showed some very nice moment to moment work.
They received enough points to get an invite to the National Festival, but neither was able to attend this year.
GROUP COMPETITION
WG Drama - IMPROV TEAM
"TOP HAT IMPROV"
"TOP HAT IMPROV"
Mel Carroll, Joe Castleman, Yusuf Randolph and Aidan Kurtz
competed in the Three Day Improv Competition and did very well.
They had to learn 5 games and played three. It is not an easy event, but this group really liked to play.
WG Drama - TECH TEAM
We had a Tech Challenge Team - Ethan Ryan, Emerald Habecker, Sophia Gotto and Tea Gardner that competed.
Tea competed in the costume quick change...
Emerald competed in the sound tech challenge
DESIGN IEs
COSTUME Design
Grey Ferber (Soph) designed and built a dress for the show Crimes of the Heart and entered the Costume Build competition. GREY was given three superior ratings and received an invite to attend and compete at nationals. She unable to attend the festival in June.
She was required to do multiple renderings, show process, and be able to interview with adult designers answering question about the choices she made in her work
SOUND Design
Sam Toskin designed sound for Never the Sinner
He engineered a brilliant design for our production It was a major learning experience for Sam and he took a lot away with him after it was all done. This was a great opportunity to discuss sound design and engineering for the stage.
STAGE Management
Connor Hanneken designed a prompt book and stage managers book for Never the Sinner
He did a great job with his binders and got the opportunity to run through an interview so that he can know what to expect in professional interviews in the future.
COSTUME Design
Liz Carver (Junior) designed 5 costumes and color renderings for the show Amedeus and entered the Costume Design competition. 
Film (IE)
Simon Moore (Senior) - created a film called "Cereal" and it was awesome! This was Simon's third time attending and competing in the Film IE. He created amazing work that got better each year and we will be sad to lose him next year.
SIMON was also the unofficial photobug for the conference!
SCHOLARSHIP
Suzanna Kessler - (senior) auditioned for colleges and got several callbacks from schools that asked her for an additional meeting.
********************************************************************************* OTHER PICS of the TROUPE at STATE
Simon Moore (Senior) - created a film called "Cereal" and it was awesome! This was Simon's third time attending and competing in the Film IE. He created amazing work that got better each year and we will be sad to lose him next year.
SIMON was also the unofficial photobug for the conference!
SCHOLARSHIP
Suzanna Kessler - (senior) auditioned for colleges and got several callbacks from schools that asked her for an additional meeting.
********************************************************************************* OTHER PICS of the TROUPE at STATE
THE FINAL SHOWCASE and Officer Ceremonies
The officers hand over their responsibilities to the next set of STOs and we get to watch a bunch of the IE performances.
This conference was a huge success for our troupe!
The officers hand over their responsibilities to the next set of STOs and we get to watch a bunch of the IE performances.
The days fly by and...
by Saturday everyone is tired.
This conference was a huge success for our troupe!
We stayed present and involved the whole time, the kids had a great time talking shop with all of the theater kids in Missouri, and we made it through without any drama...what a great experience this is for us each and every year!
FINALLY...
Troupe 191 would like to thank Elliot Williams for all of his amazing work this year on the conference, working with the other STOs, working for our department, helping Mr. Schaefer and Mrs. Romanowski get the troupe registered, collecting forms, getting people pumped to fundraising, organizing the tech in the department, and just being an amazing person.
You are an asset to any theater
and Troupe 191 wishes you all of the luck
on your leadership opportunities of the future.
We will miss you SENIORS!
2017-2018
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