CDH Shines at Spotlight Awards
June 15, 2016
Congratulations, CDH Theater!
The Hennepin Theatre Trust Spotlight Education Awards, widely considered the "state tournament" of musical theater in Minnesota, held their Spotlight Showcase this week. The cast and crew of our CDH spring musical were honored to be selected to perform at the State Theater in Minneapolis to a sold out crowd.
The Spotlight program includes educational and evaluation resources for high schools across the state. Cretin-Derham Hall is one of 80 high schools to receive critical evaluation of their school musical by a professional theater evaluator.
CDH was one of only 10 schools across the entire state of Minnesota chosen to perform on Monday night. CDH students performed a 4-minute medley from the spring show, How to Succeed in Business.
For the first time in CDH history, two of our students were selected for top honors. Jordan McDonnell'16 and Jack Johnston'16 made it into the Top Ten Triple Threat (singing, acting, and dancing) finalists. Because Jack won the competition last year, the Spotlight board asked him if he would step down and give another student a chance. He graciously stepped down and served as a mentor to the Top Ten group. Jack Johnston also handed off the award to this year's winner. There is only one other time in Spotlight Award history that a school has been honored with two Top Ten Finalists.
According to criteria outlined by the Theatre Trust: “These students who audition not only have talent for singing, dancing and acting, but also show leadership ability and efforts to better their community through their art.”
Congratulations to our performers, our Theater Directors Katie Kreitzer and Ann Frances Gregg, and Chris Jacobson, Choir Director.