GCHS Student Wins Jester Award
USD 457
Garden City High School drama department student Laren Hunt won a Jester Award for Technical Achievement from the Music Theatre of Wichita. The awards announcement was digitally broadcast on Sunday, May 3rd, due to the pandemic.
Garden City High School was nominated for a total of 12 Jester Awards for the fall musical Disney’s Newsies, which was performed on November 15th – 17th in the Garden City High School Auditorium. Nominations for GCHS included:
- Overall Production
- Direction of Show – Barbara Hilt
- Leading Actor – Nathan Ayala, as Jack Kelly
- Pre-High School Performer – Jackson Loving, as Les
- Ensemble/Chorus
- Vocal Music Direction – Abigail VanTimmeren
- Artistic Guest – Kimberly Cano for Choreography
- Stage Crew
- Technical Achievement – Laren Hunt (Scenic Design)
- Scenic Design – Laren Hunt
- Costume Design – Robyn Hilt and Seferino Ramirez
- Sound Design – Barbara Hilt
The Jester Award program recognizes the extraordinary amount of work, creativity, and dedication that faculty and students put into their high school theatrical productions. The accolades program showcases the next generation of musical theatre talent in Kansas. Each year, trained volunteer judges attend and evaluate dozens of performances. This year, 46 judges viewed 144 performances of 48 productions, involving more than 3000 students and extending as far as Liberal, Hays, Salina, Pittsburg, and Topeka, in addition to the greater Wichita area.
