VISTA in the Spotlight
VISTA Productions Theatre Department and Spotlight Musical Theatre Program A number of programs exist to honor students who excel in athletics and academics. However, until the Spotlight Musical Theatre Program was created in the fall of 2005, no program offered the same recognition for students who participate and excel in musical theatre. Working with commissioned evaluators from the field of theatre education and the musical theatre community, Hennepin Theatre Trust created this program to celebrate high school musical theatre productions and recognize performances in a variety of categories. Any high school in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area that produces a musical is welcome to participate. VISTA
Productions' spring musical, AIDA,
will be part of the Spotlight Musical Theatre Program. This will be the third year VISTA has been
involved in Spotlight. The productions during the first two years of involvement were
“Crazy For You” and “Into The Woods”. They received numerous awards including:
Outstanding Overall Production, Outstanding Performance in Leading Roles, and
Outstanding Ensemble, to name a few. Our
technical staff has also been recognized for excellence in Stage Management and
Sound Design. Spotlight provides an opportunity to visibly and powerfully impact the lives of high school students, their school communities, and their families by encouraging and supporting their participation in high school musical theatre. Schools and students taking part in Spotlight have the opportunity to attend workshops, artist lectures, events and shows sponsored by Hennepin Theatre Trust throughout the year. VISTA students were thrilled, recently, to have professional Guthrie actor Randy Reyes teach his acclaimed workshop OWN THE DANCE. The students met with Randy in DeSales auditorium in February to explore character inspired movement and develop their own choreography. It was a tremendous opportunity for AIDA cast and crew members to explore and create through movement and dance.The Spotlight program
culminates each spring with the Spotlight Conference and Awards Ceremony. Students from participating schools have the opportunity to attend this conference, where theatre arts professionals teach musical
theatre workshops. The conference provides
valuable interaction between students and current leaders in the field.
The conference
weekend concludes with the Awards Ceremony, which is open to the
public, and showcases
performances by some of the best high school talent in the metro area.
This ceremony recognizes the outstanding high school theatre programs
that thrive in
our very own communities! |