Niwot High sending five students to International ThesCon Festival

In 1928, Earl Blank, a Wyoming teacher, suggested that his school celebrate the achievements of high school theater students. One year and many meetings later, the first charter was granted to Mr. Blank's school and the National Thespians (later to be renamed International Thespian Society) were created. Membership grew quickly, and 91 years later, there have been 2.3 million thespians inducted, with programs in 5,000 schools, and charters in every state, plus 13 countries.

Next June, five Niwot High School drama students will be participating and competing for the Thespian Excellence Awards, commonly known as the Thespys.

Senior Sophie Swiszcz described it as "an event where students across Colorado get to share their talents and get the chance to go to international thescon. It's important because we are getting to share our talents at a state level and then international level. The whole experience is really exciting and special."

Swiszcz, who actually attends Silver Creek but is dual enrolled at Niwot for drama, performed a Monologue from Deck the Stage by Lindsay price. She explained that she wanted to audition for ThesCon for the experience, but also as a way to exercise her acting chops and practice for college auditions.

Veteran ThesCon attendee and NHS senior Jazz Mueller said that he and his musical theater partner Grable Howie had so much fun and success last year that they decided to attend the state festival again.

"The atmosphere is what you make it to be," said Mueller. "If you want to go just to have a good time and make friends, you can absolutely do that and the atmosphere will be relaxing and inviting. If you want to go to compete, learn, and win, the atmosphere is still very friendly, but everyone knows you mean business."

Of course with COVID, the whole festival process had to be adapted. "I had to record myself on camera as opposed to performing live," said NHS junior Ellise Stager, who performed "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," from "Evita."

"This was both a blessing and a curse in that there was less stress during the actual competition weekend, but there was also less of the adrenaline rush of performing that can boost a performance to another level, "Stager said.

Despite having to adapt for COVID, the event seemed to be largely comparable to those in previous years--students were still able to perform and compete, workshops were still held, but instead of everything being at the convention center, events were either pre-recorded or conducted over zoom.

Senior Grable Howie explained, "Jazz and I decided to do multiple categories this year... [But,] due to the social distancing requirements, we each had to record our portion of the song separately, and then put them together afterwards. Making sure the parts blended together was very difficult."

So, in addition to Howie and Mueller,'s duet, the pair also performed solo songs and Mueller did a monologue. Generally speaking, these individual events are one of the most important aspects of the convention. Students can compete in events like monologues, solo songs, duets, and one acts; a panel of judges critiques the performance and then chooses a few for the Critic's Choice Showcase.

"The judging is taken very seriously," said Niwot junior Madeline Stapp. This level of critique is important because if students get to the international level like Stapp, Howie, Mueller, Stager and Swiszcz, there are opportunities to audition for over 50 scholarships. This is a big deal for thespian students, especially those who want to further develop their skills.

"Thescon helps these students to build their skills through workshops and learn other techniques from other competitors by watching their performances," Stapp explained. She competed in acting and a musical solo at the state level. After multiple takes of both her submissions, and advice from her vocal coach and theater director, she was ready.

"The most memorable part of the process was choosing the final takes with my dad. I could see how proud and supportive he was of me and I was proud of myself for how much I had improved from my first ever performance as an aristocrat [at age five]. I think it will be something I will remember for the rest of my life and performing career."

For more details on the international festival, please visit: http://www.schooltheatre.org/itf/home