By AMAYA ROTHROCK

With a new school record of 13 Altoona Community Theatre’s Isaac Award nominations, Bellefonte High’s Drama Club headed to the Altoona Mishler Theatre on May 27 for the annual award ceremony.

The Drama Club brought home a few awards with seniors Halle Mitchell and Leah Simmon both winning. Halle won Best Actress in a Leading Role and Leah won Achievement in Design. Senior Mason Keeler won runner-up for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and senior Anna Kate Scott earned runner-up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Senior Seveta Gallu, Halle, and Anna Kate all won Best Ensemble runner-up with their group called Donna and the Dynamos.

Halle’s role of playing Donna in Mamma Mia! was her first time playing a leading role in a musical. This made her award Best Actress in a Leading Role even more special to her.

“Winning this award means a lot to me, considering that this is my first lead role in a school musical. I think it shows that my hard work all these years has really paid off, so it feels amazing to have won. Just to be nominated was already such an honor, so I’m thrilled that I was able to win,” Halle said.

Along with this award, Halle also received a scholarship.

“Winning the scholarchip really means a lot to me, and I’m so happy that the Isaac’s provided such an opportunity,” she said.

Leah won Achievement in Design for the construction of the scene of the musical.

“Getting the award was incredible. The cool thing about building a set is that it can only be constructed if lots of people work together. It’s thanks to everyone that helped that Bellefonte received this award,” she said.

Since she won the award, Leah also received a scholarship alongside Halle. The scholarship will help her in the future.

“It’s an uplifting way to end the year and my time in drama. The scholarship will be a great help in my future endeavors,” Leah said.

Mamma Mia! was directed by Drama teacher Mr. Eric Brinser. He witnessed the hard work of the students first hand.

“I’m very proud of the work our student performers and tech crews. They focus on doing good work, and it’s nice nice that work is rewarded in this way,” Mr. Brinser said.

The Drama Club’s main goal was to just have good performances, but they excelled and received awards and nominations. They had nominations in a large variety of parts of the show including lead characters, ensemble, production numbers, tech crew, and design crew.

“My expectations are the same every year: work to achieve the best show possible, learn as performers and technicians, and share the story with the audience. Awards and nominations are just icing on the cake,” Mr. Brinser said.