Taking the main stage at ITS

By TYLER MUSE

 

Bellefonte Drama Club’s most recent musical, “She Loves Me” received the opportunity to perform as one of the main stage shows at this year’s International Thespian Society (ITS) conference. The conference took place November 29 – December 2 at North Penn High School in Landsdale, PA.

ITS is open to all the drama departments across the state, depending if their troupe decides to attend or not. There are dozens of opportunities for all the students to showcase their abilities. A main stage is where a school takes a play or musical they have recently done and performs the whole show at the conference. A one act is just a portion of a show, whether they are performing it or not as a school show. A STO Selected Event is a single scene or song and is real brief, and usually they don’t bring a set or props with them. The conference also gives out many scholarships. You can perform with a group in front of a panel of judges or perform an IE which is an individual performance for a scholarship. The conference is all about meeting new people and gaining new skills theatrically, so they put you through three workshops that you can choose, ranging from acting, singing, dancing, to the tech side of a show.

Co-lead of “She Loves Me,” senior Jonathan Myer (Georg Nowack), attended his first and last ITS conference this year. He described it as one of the “most unique experiences” of his life so far.

“It felt like everyone was there to be themselves, and getting to perform in front of the thousand other peers was unbelievably exciting,” he said.

Co-lead of “She Loves Me,” senior Megan Irwin (Amalia Balash), described this past ITS being one of the “best experiences” she has had in high school.

“The audience was so full of people who really enjoyed theater, so the energy they gave back to the performers was magical. And getting to do a main stage there for the for the first time with all of my closest friends was just unforgettable.”

Supporting actor of “She Loves Me,” senior Ryan Carroll (Mr. Maraczek), is upset that this is his last ITS conference he can attend. He will never have any regrets for attending.

“Being at ITS in general is wonderful because you are at a conference with other actors and crew members and others who really enjoy theatre and it’s a wonderful way to see other people putting on their own shows and learning about their own experiences. You can go up to anyone and talk and there will always be something in common,” Ryan said.

Supporting actor of “She Loves Me,” senior Johnny Purnell (Head Waiter), described performing a main stage as such a “special experience” and was very “rewarding.”

“Everyone had to work so well together to get everything ready for the show in under two hours. Also, performing for a group of theatre lovers was such a rewarding experience, when compared to the audience of a normal show,” he said.

Member of stage crew, freshman Rebecca Methven attended her first ITS conference this year. She was able to see the experience in a diffrent style since she was not performing on stage.

“The show went extremely smooth, the stage quality was perfect, and the workers were very kind and generous. The overall experience was great because I got to get closer to the entire drama family,” Rebecca said.