Stepping off the airplane and into the bright, flashy city of Las Vegas filled me with an immediate sense of optimism. Vegas is a city famous for the allure of taking chances, putting yourself out their in hopes that something incredible will come of it. Amidst the neon glow of the city's heart, there was a quiet pulse of excitement that was centered, not on Fremont Street or the casios, but on Liberty High School. I arrived at the school to find several excited thespians practicing their IEs, rehearsing for opening ceremonies, and organizing for the following 3 days to come. At this point, only a fraction of the total delegate population was present. A few eager students from hours and hours north, and some others from the area who had just recently gotten out of school. This year's festival theme was excitedly revealed to me several time: Leave Your Legacy. Today is a Good Day to Try!
While co-Chapter Directors did some final preparations, students rehearsed their opening number which would be performed on the Friday morning of the festival. It was a beautiful arrangement of songs from Pippin, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and even La La Land. The number was divided into three main sections about Stephen Schwartz, Thespis, and Sutton Foster- individuals who have left their legacy and made a significant impact on the world. Needless to say, everyone
loved it! Along with this, there were 3 main-stage shows:
The 39 Steps, Moon Over Buffalo, and
The Miracle Worker. They were all performed and received very well. Who needs the Blue Man Group when you have festival?!
I had the opportunity to work with the Nevada STO and STO candidates, all of which were incredible leaders and leaders to come. The worked so hard all throughout the weekends, ensuring that the festival would be an amazing experience for everyone. The leadership I saw from everyone, even the attendees, validated my aforementioned optimism. Nevada is full of thespians who want to leave their legacy.
I got to teach four sessions of my workshops, each of which were filled to the brim with eager and open-minded leaders. We had some amazing discussion about community outreach, advocacy, and how
anyone and everyone can be a leader even without a title. We all learned a lot from each other, and I certainly left feeling immensely satisfied about the state of Nevada's student leadership.
At closing ceremonies, I got the chance to just how passionate Nevada thespians are- there were tears, smiles, laughs, and shouts. Most astounding of all: they raised a whopping $903 in just one minute to help send their all-state show,
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to ITF. Every thespian in attendance made the most of their weekend, taking every chance they had to leave their legacy. I was honored to be a part of this, and I can't wait to see what they create in the future!
If you want to follow all of the ITO's thespi-antics follow us with @internationalthespianofficers on Instagram, @ITOOfficial on Snapchat, and The International Thespian Officers on Facebook. If you'd like to contact me specifically, you can find me on Twitter as @ITORyanP or shoot me an email at rpangracs@schooltheatre.org. I am so excited to meet as many of you wonderful thespians as I can this year, and I hope you are all counting down the days until ITF like I am (and that's 97days)! See ya soon! Next up, Washington!