CRESTVIEW — On March 19, senior Jessika Land was voted Crestview High School’s 2015 Bulldog Idol. Now what does she do?
She goes to Orlando!
It wasn’t Disney World, but while attending the Florida State Thespian Festival this week with four fellow Crestview High theatre buffs, she was in the same city.
Jessika, Michael Brooks, Zac Sticha, Riley Williames and Taryn Williames — escorted by Thespians adviser and drama teacher Annette Gebhardt — spent spring break watching one-act plays and attending stagecraft workshops throughout the day.
Topics include dance, acting, stage fighting and special effects makeup, Gebhardt said. Evenings were spent watching fellow Florida Thespians perform.
“We saw two mainstage plays in the evenings, shows selected by judges from troupes around the state,” Gebhardt said. “We weren’t performing this year, but we were eager to watch and learn.”
Thursday night, the Crestview troupe attended “Moon Over Buffalo” performed by students from Westport High School in Ocala.
Friday, they saw student actors from Gainesville’s Buchholz High School perform the stage version of a classic horror film.
“‘Night of the Living Dead’ was especially fun,” Gebhardt said. “It’s a scary play and was performed in Tampa Theatre, which is reportedly haunted.”
IDOL FANS
More than 150 Bulldog Idol fans helped raise more than $700 to defray some of the Thespians’ state festival travel costs. After earlier auditions, 10 finalists were chosen to perform at the talent competition.
Faculty judges Yolanda Gaye Porter, Courtney Killion and Andrew Black chose five performers to return for repeat performances before winnowing the group to Ricky Coley and Jessika.
“The audience voted for the winner from the top two by text messaging their votes,” Gebhardt said.
By evening’s end, both had sung three songs, with Jessika accompanying herself on the ukulele and Ricky playing guitar and piano as he performed three songs of his own composition.
As judges deliberated, retiring math teacher Jeff Zuraff, “our resident Elvis,” performed his “farewell tour” of three songs, “and added another fun element to our night,” Gebhardt said.
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IDOL HOPEFULS
These 10 Bulldog Idol finalists were selected after auditions for Thespian troupe members and performed during the March 19 competition. Jessika and Ricky were the two finalists.
Evan Sammons*
Taryn Williames
Michaela Pawlak
Alyssa Huggins
Jamylanette Mejias*
Jessika Land*
Ricky Coley*
Hannah Smith
Coltin Fortner*
Brianna Sutton
*Students who advanced to the second round
UPCOMING
The Thespians’ next fundraiser is an Improv Night and Lip-Sync Battle, 7 p.m. May 24, at the Pearl Tyner Auditorium. The $5 admission will benefit Thespian troupe travel and events.
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Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Thespians troupe names new Bulldog Idol