A dramatic triumph for RRMS Junior Thespians

After earning a phenomenal 22 "superior" ratings at the Junior Thespian District 5 competition in December, the River Ridge Middle School Junior Thespian Troupe 88135 had given itself a tough act to follow.

But the young performers delivered a bravura encore at the Junior Thespian state competition in Melbourne the weekend of Feb. 9 – 11, with every student who made the trip turning in a prizewinning level performance, and two of the acts being named best in the state in their categories.

At Thespian competitions, students perform scenes before panels of judges in several categories — monologues, duets, pantomime and various musical categories. The scenes are evaluated and are given ratings — "superior," "excellent," "good" and so forth.

All 10 of River Ridge's acts earned "Superior" or "Excellent" ratings, to the astonishment of their drama teacher, Peter Nason.

"All of the students who competed did incredible, gutsy work, were wonderfully behaved, and extremely professional throughout the weekend," Nason said.

After the tremendous district showing, his toughest challenge was deciding which of the almost three dozen acts that had qualified to take to the state tournament, since schools could only bring 10 acts.

To have all 10 finish in the money at the state level — that was more than he could hope for, all things considered.

The tournament is not one of those feel-good, "everyone's a winner" type events, Nason said. "There were some schools who won nothing at all," he said, adding that one of the hardest parts is seeing the disappointment of the performers who do not score well.

But Nason didn't have to face that with anyone on his team.

Beyond a "Superior" rating there is one step higher, to be named the "Critic's Choice, Best in State" in one's category.

Eighth-grader Kayla Rodriguez took that honor in the monolog category, for her selection from the play "The Queen of Hearts Ain't Even Pretty."

As coach, Nason was privy to the final scoring before his students were and he couldn't resist a little drama of his own. He approached Kayla and said, "I need to talk to you." Then, with a grave expression, he told her she had taken Best in State.

"I cried and then my mom cried," Kayla said.

Nason pulled a similar stunt on Red Abelgas and his sister Keisha Abelgas, who took Best in State for their two-person scene titled, "Awkward Silence."

As the only public school from Pasco County at the state finals, going up against a lot of private, magnet and performing arts schools, Nason feels his students' showing made a statement about public schools and the county.

For all the medals his students took home, Nason hopes the experience itself is what sticks with them.