Austin High School Red Dragons Win 2011 UIL One-Act Play Competition
Late last night at UT's Bass Concert Hall the judges announced that the Austin High School Red Dragon Players had won the state-wide UIL one-act play competition for large (5A) high schools with their production of Over The Tavern by Tom Dudzick, directed by theatre teachers Billy Dragoo and Tommy Grubbs. They were ranked first among the 256 productions of 5A high schools that began the competition in March.
Three AHS students received acting awards.
Catherine Schwartz was named as Best Actress in the 5A competition and received the highest award possible for a high school actor in Texas, the Samuel French Award for Excellence in Acting.
Ian Erbe (Eddie) was named to the All-Star Cast.
Nick Williams (Rudy) was named to the Honorable Mention All-Star Cast
This competition was no walk-over. AustinLiveTheatre attended the second half of the 5A competition, opened by the Red Dragons and followed by three other strong productions:
- Eisenhower HS (Aldine) performed an abridged version of August Wilson's Fences in which dramatic moments featuring Tony Haywood in the lead as Troy Maxon drew applause from the full house at the Bass
- Cypress Creek HS (Houston) staged an abridged version of The Farnsworth Invention by Aaron Sorkin with particularly strong performances by Justin Salinas as David Sarnoff and Jon Cozart as Philo T. Farnsworth
- Judson HS (Converse) staged Up by Bridget Carpenter, in which Shauna Gonzalez was a heart-breaker as the cheerful pregnant 16-year-old runaway Maria
Directors Dragoo and Grubbs provided lively and inventive blocking of Over the Tavern for their uniformly strong cast of seven. The drama portrays the six-member Pazinski family living above the tavern where the father works and Sister Clarissa, the Catholic school teacher who has had a strong influence -- for better or for worse -- on them. Dudzick's script had some of the comic zing of television writing, and it could have fallen off into farce. Anchoring this production were strong performances as Corbin Chase as the hard-working disciplinarian father, Chet, and Catherine Schwartz as the not-to-be-fooled mother, Ellen.
Congratulations to the Red Dragons and, especially, best wishes for those who are graduating this year!
EXTRA
Click to view full cast & crew information and images from the UIL program
Mention by Laura Heinauer in the Statesman's education blog Homeroom, May 13