St. Thomas Aquinas’ Thespian Troupe 5999 attended the annual Florida State Festival in Tampa, FL, from March 13th-16th. Qualifying students had the opportunity to compete in a variety of theatrical categories at this festival, such as acting, musical theater, pantomime, monologues, and theatrical design. Additionally, they attended a variety of Broadway workshops and Mainstage performances. Their Thespy events scored superior ratings from judges in multiple categories. 

Awards

Heather Johnson received Top Honors for her Marketing Design for Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, while teammate Maya Lopez-Ortiz scored straight Superiors for her contrasting monologues along with Alana Rutigliano, who also scored straight Superiors for her Costume Construction for Wicked. Other standout performances included Alexi Arocho’s Superior makeup design for The Mousetrap, a duet Musical Theatre piece from West Side Story performed by Alexi Arocho and Kaylee Ramos, and a small group Musical Theatre performance of What the Heck I Gotta Do from Lin Manuel Miranda’s 21 Chump Street, performed by Chris Zarn, Cody Straka, Cole Christianson, Mateo Cruz, Alexi Arocho and Maya Lopez-Ortiz.

During the opening ceremonies, Maya Lopez-Ortiz and Valentina Ramos were presented with the All Star Cast/Crew awards for their exceptional work in the production of The Mousetrap.

While describing her experience at the festival, freshman, Alana Rutigliano, said she was looking forward to “seeing the plays plus other people’s designs and construction.” She also explained that she “learned more in depth about the design process and end result.” Senior, Maya Lopez-Ortiz described how the experience “brought us[the troupe] closer together”. She went on to say that she was glad to be “leaving the troupe in good hands with the talented new members.”

Overall, STA was very successful, bringing home eight awards. Congratulations to Troupe 5999!