Lyric Stage announces winners of Schmidt and Jones Awards

Dallas—Lyric Stage presented the 15th annual Schmidt & Jones Awards at the Moody Performance Hall on May 7. The theatre company also gave the Ashley Newman-Schneider Scholarship to the best stage manager.

“Established in 2010 and named after renowned composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones, these awards honor excellence in high school musical theatre across Dallas-Fort Worth,” Scott Guenther, Lyric Stage’s general manager, said. “The evening featured performances by nominated schools, productions and performers, and they were amazingly talented.”

The winners are as follows:

BEST SHOW

Denton Guyer High School – ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’

BEST ENSEMBLE

Liberty Christian School – ‘Singing in the Rain’

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Liberty Christian School - Presley Anderson & Gigi Plisga – ‘Singing in the Rain’

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Denton Guyer High School – Brayden Dorman, Roseanna Medlock, Anna Quigley –

‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’

BEST SCENIC DESIGN

Denton Guyer High School – Brayden Dorman - Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Rowlett High School - Francine Parcero & Anthony Bedolla – ‘SIX’

BEST ORCHESTRA

Wylie High School – ‘Beauty and the Beast’

BEST STAGE MANAGER

Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts – William “Mars” Bartell – ‘Sister Act’

Winner of the Ashley Newman-Schneider Scholarship

Newman-Schneider was an influential presence in the DFW theatre community.

BEST ACTOR

Sean Forman as Man in Chair in ‘The Drowsy Chaperone ‘at North Texas Performing Arts Conservatory; Forman also received a $500 scholarship.

BEST ACTRESS

Francine Parcero as Anne Boleyn in ‘SIX’ at Rowlett High School; Parcero also received a $500 scholarship.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Bradford Arnold as Wolf in ‘Into the Woods’ at Grapevine High School

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Anya Guidry as Alice Beineke in ‘The Addams Family’ at Cedar Hill High School

ACTOR IN A MINOR ROLE

Hudson Donnell as LeFou in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Wylie High School

ACTRESS IN A MINOR ROLE

Grace Betts as Race in ‘Newsies Jr’ at Harvest Christian Academy

MALE ENSEMBLE PERFORMER

Darren Sanders as Featured Dancer in ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ at Denton Guyer High School

FEMALE ENSEMBLE PERFORMER

Maria Luiza Viana as Flapper Ancestor in ‘The Addams Family’ at Cedar Hill High School

A panel of judges, consisting of theatre educators and professional theatre artists, viewed 21 productions of the accepted applicants from schools in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties. The panel made nominations and then voted to determine winners. The directors of participating schools also received written production evaluations.

The judging panel, adjudicating, and awards are organized and led by Amy Stevenson, the director of the Schmidt and Jones Awards. Stevenson is well-known in Dallas-Fort Worth as both an artist and educator.

SOURCE Lyric Stage