Urbandale Theatre Arts

Welcome to the official source for news and information regarding Urbandale Theatre Arts & Speech!

Use the tabs on the side to find out more specific information about our shows, speech groups and other general info.

News

6/5/20

UHS Virtual Banquet

If you were unable to attend our 1st ever Virtual Banquet you can still watch a copy of it right here

In the midst of all that was covered at the awards banquet we forgot to recognize two special student leaders. Emma Kellogg was the student assistant director for Twelfth Night and Bickley Riley was the student assistant director for Peter and the Starcatcher. This position is incredibly important to our department as the students placed in these positions show great leadership skills and the basic skills necessary to direct. In many cases they are the intermediaries between the directors and the cast/crew to make sure the process runs as smoothly as possible. They do this in addition to directing scenes and helping the director manage the day to day logistics of rehearsal. We owe such individuals a great deal of thanks. Thank you for what you have done for this department!

Emma Kellogg

Class of 2020

Student Assistant Director

Twelfth Night

Bickley Riley

Class of 2020

Student Assistant Director

Peter and the Starcatcher

05/17/20 IHSSA IE All State Madison Pulica

IE All Stater

Congratulations to Madison Pulica for her Solo Musical Theatre "In My Dream" for earning and IE All State Nomination. This her second year earning All State for Solo Musical Theatre.

3/06/20 IHSSA Large Group, Individual Events and Peter and the Starcatcher

Having wrapped up a successful production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, UHS Theatre Arts has been working hard on our contest materials. We sent 9 Large Groups events to Districts this year, 4 of which went to the state level of competition. Currently we are in the midst of both Individual Events season and the beginnings of our upcoming mainstage production Peter and the Starcatcher. We had 12 individuals perform at district contest and 9 of them will be moving on to State Contest, which will be hosted in Council Bluffs next Saturday, March 14th. The next thing on the docket after Contest is our final production of the year, Peter and the Starcatcher, which to be brief, is the prequel to Peter Pan. In other news we are working on expanding our community and public presence as a department so that we can better serve the students in our department, our educational facility and the community as a whole. The hope is to make more frequent updates and get more information out, so you can expect to see more news entries on a more regular basis.

8/23/19 Brand New Year


Congratulations to all for a successful year in UHS Drama. We were very excited to have so much excitement this year in regards to shows and new faces joining our Drama Family. Although we are sad to see the class of 2019 leave, we are excited to see what they do next as they move on to the next stage of their life. If you were unable to attend the 3rd Annual End of the Year Drama Banquet here are some of the highlights.

  • We talked about the fall show The Elephant Man and some of the spectacular numbers of attendance and memories from the show.
  • We awarded all of the IHSSA Certificates and medals for those that performed in Large Group Speech season(If you didn't attend you can pick up your certificates from Mr. Knapp). Fun fact that this is the first year since 1995 that we have a group perform at the Large Group All-State Festival.
  • We then awarded all of the IHSSA Certificates and medals for those that performed at Individual Events Speech season (If you didn't attend you can pick up your certificates from Mr. Knapp). Fun fact that having only had 18 entries taken to Districts we still had 12 State Overall 1's (an amazing ratio)
  • We then discussed the spring musical The Addams Family again talking through record attendance and some great memories from the show.
  • Next we came to the session of handing out Letter awards to those who lettered this year.(If you missed and need to pick up your pin or letter, please contact Mr. Knapp and he can get it to you)
Freshman Letter Winners -Ella Darsee
Sophomore Letter Winners - Devin Ensley, Erin Valle, Logan Ingraham, Monica Lewandowski
Junior Letter Winners- Bickley Riley, Emily Guzman, Emma Kellogg, Kaecee Topolinski, Kenny Flory, Kyel Peterson, Madison Pulica
Senior Letter Winners-Anna Kerr, Anna Perdue, Anne Gage, Audrey Krukow, Blake Arntzen, Channing Parkhill, Isaac Bleich-Sisco, Jacob Sammon, Jonah Larsen, Julia Gyure, Karina Zepeda, Katie Campbell, Keegan Cottington, Laura Parsons, Lindsey Ingraham, Logan Boyles, Lydia Burg, Matt Moran, Olivia Sobek, Quinten Burnett, Varun Vepa
Double Letter Winners -Audrey Krukow, Blake Arntzen, Devin Ensley, Isaac Bleich-Sisco, Jacob Sammon, Jonah Larsen, Kaecee Topolinski, Kyel Peterson, Laura Parsons, Logan Boyles, Lydia Burg, Madison Pulica, Matt Moran, Monica Lewandowski, Olivia Sobek, Quinten Burnett
Lettered with Distinction Winners- Audrey Krukow, Blake Arntzen, Jacob Sammon, Kaecee Topolinski, Lydia Burg, Madison Pulica, Matt Moran, Quinten Burnett
  • We then brought up our Thespian Board and they talked about several things they did this year including the first Night of Musical Theatre and Iowa Thespian Festival.
  • Next we inducted several new thespians into our program. Congratulations to:
    • Bickley Riley
    • Channing Parkhill
    • Ella Darsee
    • Monica Lewandowski
    • Quinten Burnett
  • Next up we brought all of the seniors up and talked about the wonderful Class of 2019
  • We then presented our annual student voted awards for the evening, Congrats to the winners!
    • Best Newcomer - Tayden Baccam
    • Most Improved - Jon Meyer
    • Best Supporting Actor - Kyel Peterson for The Addams Family
    • Best Technician for a Show - Quinten Burnett for The Addams Family
    • Best Supporting Actress - Bickley Riley for The Addams Family
    • Best Technician Overall - Quinten Burnett
    • Best Actress - Lindsey Ingraham for The Addams Family
    • Best Actor - Matt Moran for The Elephant Man
  • We then announced our fall and spring shows for the 2019-2020 school Year
    • Fall Show - Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare
      • Directed by Mr. Gallegos
      • Aesthetic will be 80's punk and 90's grunge/ have a Street/Industrial feel
      • Non Traditional Casting
      • More info located on the Fall Show Page
    • Spring Show - Peter and the Starcatcher by Rick Elice
      • Directed by Mr. Knapp
      • Fun and minimalist set relying on simple props and fun lighting effects.
      • More Non Traditional Casting
      • More info to be posted on the Spring Show page

Hello all and welcome or welcome back to to UHS. As we start a new year we start with new things, the first being is that we are rebranding ourselves as the UHS Theatre Arts and Speech Department. (you may have noticed on our social media platforms). We did this primarily for two reasons. First off, is that it presents the department as a more formal and professional. The second reasoning is that while the word drama is something many connect with, it does not accurately represent the varied aspects such as our technical students.

Our first big event of the year is our Annual Theatre Arts and Speech Kickoff Meeting which will be August 27th at 6pm in the Performing Arts Center. There will be a short meet and greet with students and directors starting at 5:45 and we'll kickoff into discussing all of the wonderful things coming up this year for UHS Theatre. Parents and family are welcome as there will be plenty of information for them and our Booster Drama Vice President (this will be changed to Theatre Arts eventually) will be there to give them information as well. Bring your friends and anyone who may be interested as it is a great way to meet the get to know what we do here at UHS. Info that is at the meeting will be posted here after for those who are unable to attend.

Another big event for us are auditions for the Fall Play - Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare directed by Mr. Gallegos. Auditions will be Tuesday September 3rd and Wednesday September 4th from 4-6:30pm and Callbacks for all on Thursday September 5th. This will be a fun exciting show and we are excited to share this story. For those who are nervous or would like some more information before auditions we will be having audition workshops in the PAC Thursday August 29th from 4-5 and August 30th from 3:30-4:30. Participants are welcomed to attend one or both of these workshops.

We are also still looking for the following Student Leadership Positions (most are designers):

  • Lighting Designer
  • Sound Designer
  • Costume Designer
  • Costume Coordinator
  • Hair and Makeup Designer

If you have any interest in these positions you can jump over to the Fall Play- Student Leadership Tab

We will also be sending out info regarding General Production Team (Crew) here in the upcoming weeks.

5/31/19 End of the Year Announcements

4/8/19 Fongs Fundraiser and Addam Family Program Shoutouts

Come Dine and raise money for UHS Drama

Come help the Urbandale Drama Department fund their production of The Addams Family! It's easy!

All you have to do is come to Fong's Pizza in Ankeny 1450 SW Vintage Pkwy #120 Ankeny IA, 50023 between 5pm and 10pm on April 8th and order any of their delicious pizzas or food, and 5% of all income that night will be donated to UHS Drama to help pay production costs.

So invite all yours friends and family to eat at the Ankeny Fong's Pizza that night. You'll want to get there early as it is also the night of the NCAA Championship game.


Addams Family PROGRAM SHOUT OUTS!

Friends and family of cast, crew, and pit members may purchase ads in the program to share a shout out to their performer! All submissions will be reviewed for appropriateness and may we may ask for them to be edited otherwise those deemed inappropriate will be removed and money will be refunded.

Proceeds serve as a fundraiser for current and future musicals.

EXAMPLES:

Text Only Shout-Out:

“Break a leg, Johnny! We’re so proud of you! Love, Mom & Dad”

Text and Photo:

“A star was born 16 years ago. We’re excited to see your light shine

on stage tonight. Love, Your Biggest Fans” next to a current photo, a cute baby photo or senior photo

PRICING:

Text Only Shout-Out, 1-2 lines: $15.00

Text Only, Quarter Page: $30.00

Text & Photo, Quarter Page: $35.00

Text & Photo, Half Page: $50.00

Submit ad with payment as hard copy including high quality print of photo OR submit ad to knapps@urbandaleschools.com; photos should be .jpg files

Pay with checks made out to Urbandale Performing Arts Booster Club with Drama in the memo line.You can send it to the school at 7111 Aurora Ave. Activities-Attn. Shaun Knapp otherwise you can send them in with your students in an envelope.

Ads & payment due no later than Friday, April 19th. No ads will be accepted after this date.

3/16/29 IE All Staters

IE All Staters

Congratulations to

Madison Pulica for Solo Musical Theatre

&

Varun Vepa for Spontaneous Speaking

2/4/19 Large Group All-Staters

Large Group All-Staters

Congratulations to

Isaac Bleich-Sisco in Drunken Silence (Solo Mime)

and

Matt Moran & Jacob Sammon in Roll Over Beethoven (Ensemble Acting)

These are our first Large Group All State Performers in Twenty Four Years!

01/29/19 Speech Contest Showcase-Makeup Date

February 1st in the PAC

Come join us for our showcase/dress rehearsal of all of our wonderful groups that went to Districts on January 21st.

10/04/18 UHS Now Presenting Program Shoutout!

UHS Drama now presenting!

PROGRAM SHOUT OUTS!

Friends and family of cast, crew, and pit members may purchase ads in the program to share a shout out to their performer! All submissions will be reviewed for appropriateness and may we may ask for them to be edited otherwise those deemed inappropriate will be removed and money will be refunded.

Proceeds serve as a fundraiser for current and future musicals.

EXAMPLES:

Text Only Shout-Out:

“Break a leg, Johnny! We’re so proud of you! Love, Mom & Dad”

Text and Photo:

“A star was born 16 years ago. We’re excited to see your light shine

on stage tonight. Love, Your Biggest Fans” next to a current photo, a cute baby photo or senior photo

PRICING:

Text Only Shout-Out, 1-2 lines: $15.00

Text Only, Quarter Page: $30.00

Text & Photo, Quarter Page: $35.00

Text & Photo, Half Page: $50.00

Submit ad with payment as hard copy including high quality print of photo OR submit ad to knapps@urbandaleschools.com; photos should be .jpg files

Pay with cash or checks made out to Urbandale Performing Arts Booster Club with Drama in the memo line.You can send it to the school at 7111 Aurora Ave. Activities-Attn. Shaun Knapp otherwise you can send them in with your students in an envelope.

Ads & payment due no later than Friday, October 25th. No ads will be accepted after this date.

09/18/18 Cast for The Elephant Man

We have a cast for our Fall Show, The Elephant Man! More Information can be found in the Fall Play tab to the left. As we get closer to show dates we will begin sending out invites and start postering our community. If you wish to have a poster located in your business or place of work please email Mr. Knapp and he will get you put on the list!

07/02/18 New Year Info

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. As we move into July we are going to start working on projects to help make 2018-2019 an even more efficient and successful year for UHS Drama. One of these projects is organizng and inventorying our costumes. Students should have received an email with a link to a google form to fill out if they are interested in helping out. Our plan is to accomplish this and some other small projects during the weeks of July 16th-28th. If you would like to help out you can fill out this google form- (parents are more than welcome to come help out as well!)

https://docs.google.com/…/1ckHlxKl8sfNWEcmjx_CB1vwZGxa…/edit

Or if you have any other questions about how to help out, you can always email Mr. Knapp at knapps@urbandaleschools.com