Meadows, Madison Theater Shine At 12th Annual Cappies Awards

Earning nominations for the prestious Cappies Awards isn't usually very difficult for Madison High School theater students.

It's winning them that's the challenge.

This year, students not only accomplished that, with rising sophomore Julia Meadows taking home the Featured Actress award for her performance in this year's Dandelion Wine -- they also got the chance to perform a three-minute excerpt of the play in front of a packed audience at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

“I was so excited,” said Meadows, a rising sophomore. “It’s such a wonderful way to end the year and start high school.”

Students from 60 metropolitan area public and private schools showed up en masse to Sunday's gala, dressed to the nines, to celebrate high school theater.

More than 350 high school critics voted for this year’s Cappie nominations and awards. The Cappies program was established in 1999 by FCPS Theatre Arts resource teacher Judy Bowns and Capitol Steps director Bill Strauss. More than 6,000 students were involved in Cappies 2011, either as critics or cast and crew of reviewed shows. About 20,000 volunteer hours have gone into the program.

Typically, theater productions at Madison earn four to seven nominations a year. This year, the school earned nominations for best play, featured actress, best set and propos and effects.Madison High School theater director Marshall Henderson said what set this year's students apart was how they approached the existential Ray Brayburn drama.

"The student’s really embraced this very existential play as did the critics," he said.

Meadows played the Tarot Witch in Dandelion Wine in a “display box," Henderson said --  a performance that left audience and critics in awe.

"[They] had to be told that she was an actual actress even after she had been moving and delivering lines from within the box. They thought we had constructed some kind of expensive automaton to play the part," Henderson said. 

Stone Bridge's production of Lord of the Flies took home the Cappie for Best Play. Westfield High School students took home nine awards for their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which also won best musical.

As for Meadows, she'll have three more years to earn a repeat performance.

Best Play

Featured Actress

Best Set

Props and Effects (2nd year in a row)

We will be performing a short scene on the Kennedy stage from the nominated play “Dandelion Wine.”

Madison students who performed or did tech during Sunday's performance:

 Abby O’Brien

Adrianna Garcia-DuBar

Allison Brandmark

Allison Singer

Andrew Barat

Anna Marie Nyriady

Anna Voyles

Brian Ammer

Caroline Gardiner

Chris Chandler-Liu

Chris DiBlasi

Chris Foote

Chris Rosecrans

Clara Eder

Daxx Weiser

Emily Wade

J.D. Brady

Jannette Morris

Johnathan Nichols

Josh Culhane

Julia Meadows

Julian Ragusa

Kate Campbell

Kate McHale

Katie Puschel

Katie Somers

Kelly Gearhart

Kira Feldmesser

Kristina Ripley

Kristyna Gocova

Lisa Greenwood

Lisa Johnson

Lizzie Thomas

Maddie Osborn

Marin Haley

Megan VanHorn

Melissa Sanford

Meredith Voyles

Mikey Makuch

Mitchell Greenwood

Morgan Miller

Noah Lubert

Patrick Shaughnessy

Rebecca Stein

Ryan Elci

Samantha Hopkins

Sara Hendricks

Selena Garcia-DuBar

Shannon Finney

Shannon Roux

Sofia McKewen

Taylor Cullen

Wesley Diener

Will Brown

Other 2011 Cappies Award Winners include: 

Rising Critic: Jamie Joeyen-Waldorf, Langley

Returning Critic: Joey Biagini, Westfield

Graduating Critic: Chris Papas, Oakton

Female Dancer: Allison Perhach, Heritage High School, Oklahoma!

Orchestra: Duke Ellington Orchestra

Male Dancer: Nikko Custodio, South County Secondary School, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Make-up: Khulan Batmunkh, Sonya Dagata, Claire Seaton, Michelly Sorge, Washington-Lee High School,  Frankenstein 1930

Featured Actress: Julia Meadows, James Madison High School, Dandelion Wine

Props and Effects: Samantha Darr and Karlyn Dunne, Stone Bridge, Lord of the Flies

Featured Actor: Michael Brown, Georgetown Prep, Of Mice and Men

Lighting: Coleman Quimby, Walt Whitman High School, Side Show

Stage Crew: Katie Nguyen, Katie Yoon, Josh Carey, South County Secondary School, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Female Vocalist: Abby Coryell, South Lakes High School, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Male Vocalist: Sam Waters, George Mason High School, Les Miserables

Sound: Kieran Claffey, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Sets: Lauren Phillips, Brad Vitale, Chloe Vasquez, Chantilly High School, Stage Door

Costumes: Carrie Nye, Katelyn Reimer, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Comic Actor in a Play: B.J. Odom, Annandale High School, The Mousetrap

Choreography: Colby Dezelick and Avery Hobbs, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Comic Actor in a Musical: Colby Dezelick, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Comic Actress in a Musical: Emily Adler, W.T. Woodson High School, Little Women, the Musical

Supporting Actress in a Play: Shanna Bess, Manassas Park High School, Acts of God

Supporting Actor in a Play: Peter Fanone, Georgetown Prep, Of Mice and Men

Supporting Actress in a Musical: Bridget Morrison, St. Albans and National Cathedral School, Hairspray

Supporting Actor in a Musical: Anthony Ingargiola, Centreville High School, Working

Creativity: Damian Leverett, Composer, McLean High School, The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan

Ensemble in a Play: Lenny and George, Georgetown Prep, Of Mice and Men

Ensemble in a Musical: Brothers, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Lead Actress in a Musical: Anitra McKinney, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Dreamgirls

Lead Actor in a Musical: Kevin Clay, Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Lead Actor in a Play: Ty Sheedlo, Dominion High School, Harvey

Lead Actress in a Play: Virginia Tucker, St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, Our Town

Song: “Megamix” Westfield High School, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat