When Durango High School Troupe 1096 staged “Hadestown: Teen Edition” last month, everyone knew it was going to be a hit. And now there’s further validation: The Troupe has been nominated for 12 Bobby G awards for the production.
The annual Bobby G High School Theatre Awards – the Bobby Gs for those in the know – is put on through the Denver Center for Performing Arts and is focused on bringing schools across Colorado together to celebrate the amazing work educators and students are doing, Troupe 1096 Director Ben Mattson said in an interview last year. How it works, he said, is once a school registers with the organization, four adjudicators score the show on a variety of technical and performance categories, while providing in-depth feedback and giving workshops to students.
If you go
WHAT: Durango High School Troupe 1096 presents Senior Showcase and Fundraiser, featuring its award-winning one-act “Never Swim Alone.”
WHEN: 7 p.m. May 9.
WHERE: Durango High School, 2390 Main Ave.
TICKETS: $25.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://troupe1096.weebly.com.
Next week, the student actors will stage the one-act “Never Swim Alone” as a fundraiser to help 18 members of the Troupe go to the International Thespian Festival and the 42 students involved in “Hadestown” go to the Bobby G awards ceremony in Denver.
“The Bobby Gs are essentially like the Tony Awards, but for high school musical theater throughout Colorado,” Mattson said. “We registered our production of ‘Hadestown’ with the Bobby Gs, who then send out five adjudicators to evaluate our show and compare scores across the state. Fifty-three schools participated this year, and we have tied with Fossil Ridge to have the most nominations.”
Bobby G nominations
Hair/makeup: Ava Allen and Sofia Gutierrez
Costume: Ava Allen and Sofia Gutierrez
Set: Evie Powell, Max Fischer
Lighting: Will Brown
Choreography: Ava Allen, Gillian Reynolds, Jenny Fitts
Direction: Jenny Fitts, Benjamin Mattson
Music Direction: Petra Lyon
Orchestra: All of the orchestra
Chorus: All of the ensemble
Leading Acress: Gillian Reynolds
Leading Actor: Noah Oury
Overall Musical: The entire troupe
The fundraiser will be made up of two acts, Mattson said. The first act will showcase short performances and tech presentations from a variety of seniors and students attending the International Thespian Festival. There will also be a showcase of a song selection from “Hadestown: Teen Edition” that the Troupe will perform at the Bobby G awards.
“The second act will be the only performance of ‘Never Swim Alone’ that is available to the public,” he said. “Believe me when I say ‘Never Swim Alone’ is 45 minutes of the most interesting theater you will ever see.”
This year’s nominations are further proof that Troupe 1096 is improving year over year, Mattson said, adding that the time and hard work that everyone involved puts into productions is being recognized.
“I knew Hadestown was especially good early on. Petra Lyon, Jenny Fitts, Natalie Cohn and I have been the production team for Troupe 1096 for the past four years (‘Addams Family’ was our first production together),” he said. “Our shows have gotten better and better, and this was clearly a culmination of our time together, and our time with an incredible group of students. This show also marks our last production together as Petra is retiring after this year. Twelve nominations was both a surprise and a confirmation of the high level of quality of this production, and how strongly this show communicated to our audience and community. ... I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished, the team we have built, and the amazing students of Troupe 1096.”
katie@durangoherald.com
