Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Texas for the first time and attending the Texas Thespian State Festival with ITO At Large Ari Hayaud-Din! Wow, they were not kidding when they said everything is bigger in Texas! Nearly 6,200 High School Thespians and 600 Junior Thespians flooded the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas for 4 days of theatre education. Though it was a massive festival, I was immediately welcomed into the Texas Thespian family and the massive conference center quickly felt like home.
Wednesday morning started at 5am and after two cups of coffee, I helped the STO get supplies ready for the Junior Thespians coming at 8am! At opening ceremonies, Ari and I got to lead the very first Junior Minute to Give It raising $380.35. Way to make history Texas Junior Thespians! Later that morning, I met with the 2015 STO candidates. After talking about expectations for the weekend, we dispersed to help around the conference. Before closing ceremonies that afternoon, I watched McKinney Boyd High School’s production of Godspell Jr.. All the attendees were engaged by the great music and story line! The process of registering all the high school troupes began that evening and the STO and I helped the hardworking Texas Chapter Board sort t-shirts and name badges.
The next day was the beginning of the three day long High School Festival! After finishing up registration, Ari and I got the chance to work on the ITO #FacesofITS campaign (you can see our posts on Facebook or Instagram). It was incredible to hear how students got involved in theatre and why they loved it so much. That evening at opening ceremonies, Texas Thespians raised $3,000 for the Lincoln Experience! Another highlight of the evening was guest speaker Jenna Ushkowitz (otherwise known as Tina from Glee)! She spoke about her theatre journey and to end her speech she sang “Stars and the Moon” from Songs of the New World.
Friday morning was full of leadership! Ari and I had the pleasure of teaching our leadership workshops and NAPS workshop to nearly 150 thespians. There was a great turnout for each workshop and all attendees were eager to learn more about leadership and advocating for theatre education. That evening the STO held a “speed dating” dinner for the STO candidates. This was a great process to be apart of and a wonderful way to get to know the STO candidates. After dinner, Bobby Steggert, the original Will in Big Fish on Broadway, spoke to us at the all conference event. The Texas All-State Show was Big Fish this year and he was kind enough to watch the show and speak with the cast afterwards. One of the things he mentioned in his speech was that “Theatre is the only sacred place we have left”. This stuck with me throughout the weekend...how cool is it to be apart of something like theatre!
The STO candidates were chosen late Friday evening, so Saturday morning started with a meeting preparing the 13 newly elected STO for the exciting year ahead of them. Afterwards, Ari and I watched,The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This was my first time seeing the show and I fell in love with the energy of the hysterical heart warming story. That afternoon I judged the Outstanding Troupe Award competition and got to learn more about what different schools around Texas were doing. That evening, at closing ceremonies, we ended the conference collecting another $3,000 for Send a Troupe! The weekend was a success and I am so thankful I got to spend my first conference as an ITO in the great state of Texas. Next month I will be heading to Alabama for their Thespian Festival. To stay in the loop follow me on twitter @ITOEmmaA, snapchat @itoofficial, instagram @internatiopnalthespianofficers and on Facebook International Thespian Officers.