Once Upon A Time... Lincoln, Nebraska transformed into a fairytale. January 9th through the 11th marked the Nebraska Thespian Festival: this years theme "Once Upon A Time..."
Before the bippity-boppity boos commenced a little magic of our own was required--set up. Fortunately Nebraska's festival does not require hours of preparation, thanks to the help of a few fairy godmothers. One being the tremendously helpful and sweet ITO Chair, Katie An Siegel. On behalf of Nebraska Thespians, I would like to extend our utmost gratitude to her as she helped make our festival magical! I had the pleasure of spending a majority of my weekend with her ready-to-help attitude! I also attended her workshop on theatre advocacy and am grateful I did, as I picked up a few tricks.
In addition, we would like to thank Jim Curtis for his contributions to the adult board, the few times I ran into him he always had a smile on his face and an answer to my question!
In the blink of an eye it was 8:00 am and the registration booth was overflowing with eager thespians waiting to spill into the Kimball Theatre and kickoff with opening ceremonies. Nebraska was fortunate this year to have the lovely Abbie Cobb as our Keynote speaker, she jump started festival with an upbeat presentation on four tools for success in the film industry, and real life.
Performances, College Auditions, I.E.'s, Tech Challenge, a delicious Banquet, and the "Ball" all ensued the first day of #NebThesFest14 and that was the only beginning! Saturday was another early day as the delegates enjoyed a morning of delicious cooked to order breakfast, and improv.
Before the Saturday afternoon show, "Minnesota Moon" performed by Waverly High School Troupe #6186 who was in fact selected as Nebraska's Chapter Select for the International Thespian Festival, we held a miracle minute for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS and in total along with the silent auction raised over a total of $845! A huge thank you to Joe Norton who sent us all of the Broadway goodies.
Our service project this year was to raise money for The Friendship Home, a local organization that provides shelter for women in need, and we reached our goal of $1,000!
Overall, Nebraska's Festival was truly magical. And it would not have been possible without the leadership of the following people: chapter director, Angela Dashner, vice-president, Molly Grasso, secretary Bob Henrichs, treasurer, Brooke Phillips, and the student state board representatives.
The weekend was warm with friends, teachers, and theatre.
And we all lived happily ever after.