Submitted by Stu Rosenthal
Students from the Cranford High School (CHS) Performing Arts Department recently won several state awards, including first place winners, at the annual theatre competition for secondary school students at Montclair State University. Sponsored by the Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey (STANJ), in association with the NJ Governor’s Awards in Art Education, the January 12th, 2019 event brought together over 600 students from across New Jersey for individual, paired and team categories in the performing arts.
Cranford’s top award winners were Andrew Gordon (Best Actor, 1st Place and Contrasting Monologues, 3rd Place); Nora Sullivan (Best Actress, 1st Place) and Lee & Ryan Rosenthal (Pantomime Pairs, 1st Place). The 2018 CHS production, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, was awarded 1st Place for Best Scene.
Other Cranford winners were Noah Wohlsen (Best Actor, 3rdPlace); Sullivan Grace and Katrina Wischusen (Dramatic Pairs, 3rd Place) and Dan Klimko and Brian Nigro (Comedic Pairs, 5thPlace). Finalists included Chloe LaSalle and Mairead Young for Dramatic Pairs, and Matthew Mallick for Dramatic Monologue.
“The creativity, devotion to craft and artistic expression was evident in each of their performances“ said David Marconi, CHS teacher and acting coach.
“We’re extremely proud of our award winners, but more importantly we’re glad to provide this experience to our actors,” said Anthony J. Rafaniello, Supervisor of Fine & Performing Arts at Cranford Public Schools. “The opportunity to receive feedback from performing arts professionals and to meet other students from around the state who share their passion for the arts is invaluable. The success of our Cranford students is a testament to the wealth of artistic ability and talent we strive to cultivate throughout the district in every creative field.”
Andrew Gordon, Nora Sullivan and CHS will each be receiving the Governor’s Award in Arts Education, on May 14, 2019 in Trenton.
Many of the award winners will return to the CHS stage from March 8-10 for the student production of Hello, Dolly. Tickets are available at chs.booktix.com.
(above, l-r) NJ State Award Winners, Front row: Andrew Gordon, Katrina Wischusen, Sullivan Grace, David Marconi (teacher), Nora Sullivan, Ryan Rosenthal; Back row: Mairead Young, Chloe LaSalle, Matthew Mallick, Noah Wohlsen, Brian Nigro, Daniel Klimko, and Lee Rosenthal.
Photo by Cranford Public Schools.
