Well, I survived my third and final year attending the Florida State Thespian Festival. It was a dream come true. For those who don't know, it is the largest high school theatre competition and festival in the nation. It's amazing to be surrounded by thousands of theatre kids just like you as you completely take over all of downtown Tampa. We are also the biggest donor to an organization called Broadway Equity Cares Fights Aids.
For the past two years, I have been able to attend as a result of receiving an "excellent" score on my District 3 Thespian Festival competition pieces. This year, however, my duet acting scene received a "superior". Of the plethora of superiors my Troupe placed at Districts, my duet was one of the five pieces chosen to perform at our Florida State Thespian Festival.
First off, let me tell you that the bus ride was agonizing. But as soon as I saw the Straz Center For The Performing Arts building on the horizon, I felt as though I were going to explode. It was a dream come true. We saw some outstanding one acts, one in particular being Animal Farm. We also saw several individual events that definitely deserved to be there.
We got to see two main stages during the festival. The first was Ragtime, which is a beautiful historical musical that deals with racial prejudice, immigration, pop culture, and family values during the early 1900's. We also saw Night Of The Living Dead in the Tampa Theater, a lovely venue filled to the brim with gothic architecture. Opening and closing ceremonies were a dream, especially since it was Hunger Games themed this year.
I managed to accomplish the following:
- Took pictures EVERY chance I could
- Purchased a pair of yoga pants, a pair of sweatpants, and a ring
- Looked fly as hell for the dance on the final night
- Met a kid named Indiana Jones
- Sat in front of Thomas Sanders at the closing ceremonies
- Received an overall "good" on our duet (the judges were hard to impress this year!)
- Got to witness an epic promposal
- Met a grown man wearing a denim jacket with the scout regiment's logo on the back (Attack on Titan). GOALS!
- Had the time of my life
- Managed to eat 16 White Castle cheeseburgers and a full Oreo cream pie in less than three days
