BWW Blog: CCT Celebrates the Success of INTO THE WOODS JR at the Junior Theatre Festival

By: Ryan Scarlata

Perfect. Exhilarating. Incredible. Unbelievable. These are just a few of the one-word descriptions the young actors in Columbus Children's Theatre's (CCT) Summer Youth Performance Conservatory used to describe their feelings after yesterday's adjudicated performance of Into the Woods Jr. at the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. Another word was "sad." Sad that the adjudication was the final time this group would perform together.

Fortunately, the news came last night that that was not so. CCT's young actors were one of only eight groups given the title of Outstanding Performance. Yes, only eight out of over a hundred. The shrieks and screams of excitement and tears of joy bursting from our group of 11-16 year olds was incredible. I watched proudly as they called their parents crying "we did it!" My throat has been swollen, controlling my prideful tears ever since.

This morning we were dressed, warmed up and at tech rehearsal at 8am. The stage is massive - easily 60 feet wide - and faces out to more than 4,500 chairs that will later be filled with festival attendees, eagerly watching the eight Outstanding Performances this afternoon.

Joining CCT in this category is another central Ohio group. The New Albany Art's Council's production of My Son Pinocchio Jr. was also selected forOutstanding Performance. I am so thrilled that the talent of central Ohio is being recognized for its incredibly gifted young performers. When I lived in New York City, I heard from several casting directors that they are blown away by the talent that comes out of Ohio. "There's something in the water there" they would say. From what I can tell, NYC can rest assured that our water supply is not running out. The talented young artists performing on stages in Ohio today will be the Broadway stars of tomorrow.

Check out our performance with judge's comments below:

And the post-performance discussion here:

For more information on the Junior Theatre Festival, visit: http://www.itheatrics.com/junior-theatre-festival/ or https://www.facebook.com/JuniorTheaterFestival

For more information on Columbus Children's Theatre, visit: http://www.columbuschildrenstheatre.org/

Follow their journey on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/JTF614

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