Hey Thespians! Last week I spent a few days in Birmingham, Alabama for the 2016 Alabama Thespian Festival. Even though it was rainy and chilly (well for the South that is) the Southern hospitality I was greeted with kept me warm throughout the weekend!
The festival started off early Friday morning as 1,000 Thespians entered the Wright Center on the beautiful campus of Samford University for opening ceremonies! At opening ceremonies, I led Minute to Give It and the festival raised $542.04 for Send a Troupe Grant. Afterwards I went with the STO to help run “Club Thespian”, the STO store, that sold adorable Alabama Thespian baseball T-shirts, ducks, and snacks! Each duck that the STO sold had a duck duo and Thespians could tweet #FindMyDuckDuo to hopefully find their pair! It was wonderful watching Thespians’ facial expressions when I told them that there was a Juliet somewhere around conference looking for their Romeo!
That afternoon I taught a NAPS workshop and was able to tackle some issues that local Alabama Troupes were having! The evening ended with an awesome performance from Arab High School with their performance of Zombie Prom. They are also going to main stage in Lincoln, Nebraska, so if you’re going to Nationals be sure to check it out!
The next morning began with a breakfast of coffee and doughnuts. That morning I again helped the STO run "Club Thespian"! Ducks were selling fast and happy Thespians were finding their duck duos left and right! Around lunchtime, I taught my “Be the Change” leadership workshop to three awesome Thespians and then helped the STO teach their workshops “Strengthening your Troupe” and “How to be an STO”. The future of Alabama student leaders is looking bright! That evening, the conference closed with two shows, Beowulf presented by Prattville High School and Laundry and Bourdon by Pelham High School!
My weekend in Alabama was well spent and the Thespians I met there were sweeter than sweet tea! Up next on my schedule is the Virginia Thespian Conference on January 29-31st. To stay up to date with my adventures and all things thespian follow me on Twitter (@ITOEmmaA), Instagram (@internationalthespianofficers), Facebook (International Thespian Officers), and Snapchat (@ITOOfficial).