CCT Gets Rave Reviews at Junior Theater Festival

Submitted by Allison Van Etten
Photos by James Barker/Jr. Theatre Fest
    Students from Central Community Theatre in Greenwell Springs won national recognition at the 2014 Junior Theater Festival on January 17, 18 and 19 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA.  
    The Central Community Theatre students presented selections from Seussical JR. for musical director Derek Bowley (Kennedy Center tour and premiere of The Phantom Tollbooth, world premiere of The Trumpet of the Swan at the Kennedy Center); Karen Sharp, education director of the Seattle Children's Theatre and performer Andy Jones (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella).  Said Karen Sharp, “Wow! This group had it all. They showed us some of the strongest dancing I have seen. The group worked so well together.”
    Central Community Theatre’s Zachary LeJeune and Garrett Brown were 2 of 141 students who made it to the final call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals.  The shoots will be taped in New York City this summer.  These videos will be used in tens of thousands of schools across the country and internationally.
    Central Community Theatre’s Jacob Johnson and Meghann Sullivan were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of two outstanding performers from each group attending the festival.  The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 4,500 festival attendees.  CCT’s Thomas Jackson earned a Freddie G Award for Excellent Individual Performance by a Male.
    The students from Central Community Theatre who attended the Junior Theater Festival were Lauren Abington, Haley Bordelon, Analeise Broussard, Joey Carroll, Tori Corsentino, Christen Cross, Adleigh Denham, Tate Eisworth, Juliette Gregoire, Alyson Guidry, Caitlin Hager, Rylee Haney, Tristan Ilgenfritz, Kamryn Jeansonne, Karsyn Jeansonne, Riley Kuzina, Zachary LeJeune, Sarah Grace Lieux, Madeline Miletello, Klair Netherland, William Peterson, Hannah Speiss, Meghann Sullivan, Savannah Sullivan, and Emma White.
    Created by New York’s iTheatrics and produced by the Junior Theater group, the Junior Theater Festival is the world’s largest musical theater festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theater.  Title sponsors of the 2014 festival were Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Group, and Playbill.