Last week I was able to attend the Florida State Thespian Festival, along with the wonderful Director of Chapters and Communities Diane Carr. We arrived on Wednesday around noon, and after dropping our bags in the Hilton Hotel, headed to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. There, we were greeted by Chapter Director Lindsey Warfield and much of the amazing staff running the event. The student work crew, along with the state reps, helped answer questions and check people in for preliminary registrations, and after everyone was settled opening ceremonies began. The superhero Thespian theme led to “The Amazing Florida Thespians” chant ringing all weekend, on social media and during the welcoming. After Ms. Warfield kicked off the weekends, students descended into initial mainstage shows and workshops, exploring the city of Downtown Tampa.
Thursday marked the beginning of three days of I.E.s, students from all across the state performing throughout the day. Outside of I.E.s the attendees flooded diverse workshops, traveling on the “Thespian Express” to get from the Straz to the Convention Center hosting the majority of the I.E.s and workshops. Students dressed up elegantly every night attending one acts, mainstages, and dance festivities. Competing in events like Face On! makeup challenges to improv games, the 8,000 Florida Thespians had a lot going on over the course of their four days at the Festival.
Friday morning I taught a session of leadership workshops to over 30 eager students (considering it was 9:00am!) They were inspiring leaders to work with, many of them with goals to pursue national level leadership and scholarship. Afterwards, Ms. Diane and I spent much of our time in the vendors booth, answering questions and talking to students and educators about EdTA and ITS. The students had lots of ideas about the festival and their role with ITS, which was exciting to see, especially from such a large delegation! We were fortunate enough to catch two mainstage shows as well, which advance from district level recognition in the state of Florida. The students attending were so supportive of each other, laughing and crying equally at the work of their peers.
The weekend came to a close Saturday during two closing ceremonies, in which representatives conducted a final round of “pass the bucket” for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS initiative in Florida Thespians. This year, the Florida Thespians raised a whooping $80,000 for BC/EFA, an incredible sum! After recognizing the student achievements in performance and tech, as well as all the performers and guest artists who made the event happen (with a special performance as well!) the students said goodbye and the Florida Thespian Festival came to a close. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to attend, and I can’t wait to see what the largest state Thespian conference grows to become next! Make sure to follow all the ITO posts and updates as we travel to the last remaining conferences (@internationalthespianofficers on Instagram, @ITOOfficial on Snapchat, The International Thespian Officers on Facebook, @ITOChair on Twitter)