Mary McKay

Since 2015, the Marian Fine and Performing Arts Department has celebrated the end of the year with an awards ceremony to honor the students’ hard work and dedication to the arts.

Mrs. Michelle Delisi, assistant to the principal and co-director of theater productions, along with the rest of the performing arts and fine art department staff, put together the Fine and Performing Arts Award Ceremony. This took place Thursday, May 1, at 7 a.m.

This year, the cast and crew of “Grease” and “The Tempest” voted on Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Cameo, which is a role with a brief but notable appearance. 

This year’s winners for the musical are seniors Nicole Poole, Annie Stessman for best actress, senior Heidi Hans, junior Hannah Taylor for best supporting actress, and senior Clara Hawkins for best cameo. 

The play’s winners included senior Layla Wilke-Conant and junior Hannah Taylor for best actress, sophomore Lilly Prenger for best supporting actress and sophomore Brigid McFall for best cameo.

There are also awards chosen by Delisi, Director Mr. Michael McCandless and Technical Director Mr. Danny Fell. “The Director’s Award is awarded to someone who was always respectful, cordial, followed instructions, and was just a superb, all-around actress,” Delisi said. 

Poole was also given the Director’s Award for her musical performance in “Grease.” “I felt very honored that people recognized me for my role and supported me through it all,” Poole said. Poole plans to continue her acting career at UNL.

Senior Aurora Ness received the Director’s Award for “The Tempest.” Ness is a stage manager but filled in at the last minute for Wilke-Conant in the role of “Prospero” when Wilke-Conant was sick on April 5 and 6. “I got to have a script on stage hidden in a book. Still I tried to portray the character as much as I could so that my body language could help people understand Shakespeare,” Ness said. 

Ness went to every practice for three months keeping track of blocking, script changes and giving hours of help to the theater program. Winning the Directors’ Award was extremely unexpected because it’s typically given to the actresses. “Be open to anything. Be ready to step up and do whatever you can to help the program and stick out,” Ness said. 

The directors also decide on the Showstopper Award, which is not always given out. It is an outstanding ensemble, lead or supporting actress that the directors felt was deserved.

The Showstopper award was given to junior Clara Kizer  for her performance in “Grease” and Stessman for her performance in “The Tempest.”

 There are also tech awards for the sound, light, and stage crew. Mr. Fell, the set designer, also gives “The Golden Tape Measure Award” to a girl who went above and beyond in set construction and was always there to help. 

The Golden Tape Measure Award was presented to senior Jasmine Carranza.

After three dedicated years of acting, Stessman worked from ensemble to lead roles like “Frenchy” in “Grease” and “Ariel” in “The Tempest.” “My advice is to be confident truly, and when you have an interpretation that you think is strange, honestly run with it because, at the end of the day, you’re never gonna know what they want, so you might as well be yourself,” Stessman said.

At the ceremony, winners are given a plaque or certificate for their achievements. “This is a great way to recognize the girls for all they do. And a way for their teachers and moderators to show their appreciation for their time and commitment,” Delisi said. 

The theater program requires a lot of extra work. It takes four months of practice and preparation, sometimes up to six days a week and typically three hours a day. The directors are very committed and try to recognize as many people as possible. 

“I don’t think they get enough recognition. Even with the awards, it’s still pretty much contained among the Fine Arts and Performing Arts students,” Delisi said. The girls put in work hours and deserve congratulations from their peers and teachers.