Nearly150 students filled the Rollins Studio Theatre at the Long Center Friday morning for an early- and unforgettable- Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards (GAHSMTA) nominations ceremony. Surrounded by eager theatre students, excited teachers and directors, and local Austin media outlets, the GAHSMTA Select Ensemble (in true musical theatre fashion), under the direction of the Long Center's Education and Outreach Director Ginger Morris, performed an impressive Broadway-style opener leading up to the morning's big announcement.

Today the spotlight shines on University School of Nashville's Aidan Watt, who during his four years at USN has been cast in every production - "aside from Noises Off, which I did tech for," he explains. As part of the amazing theater program at USN, Aidan's been learning from the best: Catherine Coke, whose resume includes work on all levels of professional theater, heads the program, with the estimable Jim Manning, perhaps Nashville's hardest working scenic designer (not to detract from any of the other designers in town, of course, who do great work, but Jim Manning - a 2012 First Night Star Award winner - tends to work on multiple productions for multiple companies at the same time. Whew!), heading technical and design teams.

Today, we introduce you to Arden Taylor Guice, a 17-year-old high school, whose unique theatrical life sets her apart from others in her age group: She's been a student at Franklin High School, but in her senior year she was lucky enough to gain an internship with the musical theatre program at Belmont University and is now finishing school online. She's also a veteran of Sondra Morton's Act Too Players troupe in Franklin!

A school receives a mysterious script about a girl who died long ago. The director disappears. A new director arrives just in time and knows all about the story of the play. In fact, she seems to know it too well. And how did she get the dead girl's ring? Are the students of Herbert Hoover High too wrapped up in miscues, awful accents, and stolen boyfriends to notice? Revenge is coming. Who will pay the price when the real world and the play collide?

Penn High School sure brought those dancing feet in their performance of '42nd Street'! After two cancelations, and a lot of cold weather, The Penn High School Theater Department finally opened their 2015 Spring Musical, '42nd Street' on Saturday February 21st. Even with the diversity and challenges faced during the week, this cast brought it all and gave one of the best performances I've ever seen at a high school level. Sitting in the audience, I got chills as I saw each and every performer on stage give it their all and perform the best show they could.

Today's spotlight falls upon Hume Fogg Academic Magnet High School's Caitlin Oden, who could have been the inspiration for every fictional princess ever: She's blonde, pretty, poised and self-possessed. Even her name - Caitlin Mirabel Oden - has the ring of royalty to it (say it slowly: Princess Caitlin Mirabel...sounds ideal, right?), although Caitlin's down-to-earth and focused on her longterm goals in the theater.

Elmer Rice's play The Adding Machine premiered on Broadway in 1923, yet it speaks to the issues of the day: mechanization, corporation, immigration, sexism and bigotry--all at the expense of the individual human being. Fast foward: 2015. Nearly 100 years later, we're still there. So says Catherine Coke, director of The Adding Machine at University School of Nashville.

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Emily Whitlow, a 17-year-old (or is she 18 today?) student at Ravenwood High School in neighboring Williamson County. A native of New York, Emily moved to Tennessee with her family at the age of 15 and since then she has appeared in several school productions, including her turn as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! during her sophomore year. In addition she's appeared in Circle Players' bare and Shrek the Musical and Promises, Promises at Boiler Room Theatre.

Houston's Emery High School presents a charming and sincere production of a true Sondheim classic. INTO THE WOODS, written in 1987 was penned soon after composer/lyricist, Stephen Sondheim and librettist, James Lapine celebrated their previous collaborative success, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. A favorite of school and community theatres nation-wide, INTO THE WOODS is thought of by many as Sondheim's most accessible and oft-produced show.

Posted in my classroom is a sign that reads, 'You miss one 100% of the shots you don't take.' I love the sports analogy and thinking about the theatre as a sport. Surely the training, athleticism, and grit required on any field are also required (dare I say 'doubly, if not triply') for a career in the theatre.

What is it about theater kids that make them special? What's that indefinable quality that sets them apart from other teenagers? To my way of thinking, theater kids have more poise than the average high school student, an ability to talk to anyone they meet with confidence and razor-sharp focus. At least, that description certainly applies to this week's star of High School Drama, 2015 First Night Most Promising Actor Cameron Bortz of Brentwood High School.

Today, we introduce you to Hume-Fogg Academic High School senior Ray Gleaves, a 17-year-old senior who's been an integral member of Daron Bruce's theater productions, as well as a four year member of the school concert choir (he's serving as president this year), a three year member of The Blue Notes (the HFA show choir), as well as a three year member of both Resonance (the school's men's choir) and The HFA Singers, which is best described as a small specialty ensemble. Among the roles on his theatrical resume are Anxious in West Side Story, Seaweed J. Stubbs in Hairspray, Otto in Cabaret and Simon of Legree/male ensemble in The King and I.

This week we introduce you to one of Paula Flautt's outstanding actors: Holly Hill, an 18-year-old senior at Christ Presbyterian Academy, who is busy doing her college auditions while preparing for what could well be the most challenging role any young actress could aspire to: Mary Poppins in CPA's April production of the Broadway musical. In addition, she is a member of the Tennessee State Thespian Conference advisory board

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.

On behalf of Columbus Children's Theatre (CCT), I must say we are so excited to return to the Junior Theatre Festival (JTF)this year. The festivities officially begin at 8:15am Saturday morning, but I thought I would share some interesting CCT and JTF facts - by numbers!!

During our free time this morning, we were walking by the main stage area where the doors were closed and the security was tight. We could hear the roar of Lion King music and voices rehearsing inside. Although they wouldn't let us in, we stood outside in awe for a moment. As we walked away, we spotted a door around the corner that was cracked open. I took four JTF students inside. We sat in the back row - probably 100 rows from the stage and just watched these incredibly talented children sing thier hearts out.

West Palm Beach, FL. In collaboration with BAK Middle School of the Arts, the Middle School of the Arts Foundation is pleased to announce the 2015 Piano Fest. Under the direction of Dr. Estibaliz Gastesi, the festival will present master classes and concerts by exceptional artists and students.

This week we introduce the lovely and graceful Jessie Gholson, a 17-year-old senior at Hume-Fogg Academic High School. She recently completed a run in the school's fall production of The King and I, playing the leading role of Anna Leonowens. Her previous roles at HFA include Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray and a Kit Kat Girl in Cabaret. Jessie is also a member of The Blue Notes show choir for the third consecutive year.

When members of the Tennessee State Thespian Conference gather in Murfreesboro this weekend, one of the many offerings they'll be treated to is a performance of The Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Beauty and the Beast, presented by Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy.

Columbus Children's Theatre's 2014 Summer Youth Performance Conservatory presents its Student Showcase on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 7:30pm at the McConnell Arts Center, 777 Evening Street, Worthington, Ohio.

In today's installment of High School Drama, the spotlight falls on a young man who exemplifies the term 'renaissance man': Brayden Myrick of Nashville's Hillsboro High School.

While most young girls are hooked on watching 'Frozen', playing on their cell phones and picking out great clothes, two talented gals are focused on footlights and furthering promising careers as Equity Actors!

This week, we're thrilled to feature the Drama Department at Wisconsin's Shorewood High School under the direction of Joe King.

Shorewood Drama will present an unedited version of the musical SPRING AWAKENING for six performances only beginning May 10 in the SHS Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for Adults and $5 for Students.