February in Theater Land means Regionals, which is exactly what the thespians of Wilsonville have been preparing for.
Regionals is a competition of sorts in which students are invited to perform a variety of monologues and scenes to a group of judges. There are novice and experienced categories, and actors work hard to prepare their performances in the lead-up to the weekend of the event.
Both Mr. Katz and Mr. Fitz help students with their acts, and the group musical number even has weekly scheduled rehearsals and auditions. It can be very stressful to prepare for the event, and actually performing is even harder, but it’s a unique opportunity to display your skills and hard work.
Junior Taylor Nichols is performing a solo song as well as being in the group musical number. She practices her solo song on her own time and is competing in the experienced category.
She says the coolest part of regionals is when you go into the competition room and “get to watch people from other schools compete, who are doing the same thing as you.” Meeting students you wouldn’t otherwise meet is a defining feature of regionals.
She also declared her favorite regional memory was our school’s thespian showcase from last year, stating, “It’s a lot of fun to get to perform the piece you’ve been practicing on your own, and it’s before the stress of regionals.” This year’s thespian showcase is on February 6 at 7 PM in the PAC.
Jos Jones, a junior, is also performing at regionals. However, he is performing an advanced duo dramatic scene. His favorite memory was performing the group musical number last year, as “even though we didn’t score super well, it was just a lot of fun.”
And like Taylor, he declared the coolest part of regionals to be meeting drama students from all over Oregon, and “seeing the different communities come together for one big event.”
With the event just around the corner, nervousness is at its peak, but so is excitement! Be sure to come to the Thespian Showcase on the 6th, and wish your peers good luck on their acting endeavors.