And the advancing play is……Mad!
After many long hours of rehearsal, the directors, cast and crew of the OAP were all excited to hear the play called out as one of the three advancing plays from district competition, held in Teague the week before spring break.
“We’ve been working on this play since before Christmas,” assistant director Melonie Menefee said. “OAP is the most time-consuming event in the spring UIL meet, and it is always a relief to hear the judges liked your show.”
The contest was held in Teague, and the students travelled there two days in a row – once for rehearsal the day before and once for the contest.
“It was a really good tech rehearsal,” senior Ryan Grant said. “I’m glad we did it because the equipment was a lot different than at our school.”
After a successful tech rehearsal, the students traveled back home with instructions to get rest and prepare for the upcoming competition.
“I could barely sleep I was so excited,” junior Kaiden Leop said. “I felt really good about the play, but I was still scared.”
The morning of competition, students left at 8 to go back to Teague. Buffalo was the last play in the competition, giving the students time to prepare for the play.
“We got there in the morning so we could start getting ready earlier,” junior Nadia Garcia said. “We had a lot of crazy makeup and hair to do.”
After the play ended it was waiting time. Awards took place about an hour and a half after the play ended; there was a tape pulling contest and Leon won by a hair, and only after one of their competitors got overly rough.
“I was just minding my own business and then this girl jumped on me out of nowhere,” Garcia said. “She pushed me a lot, but I held my own.”
Individual awards were announced before advancing plays. Lilah Adams won a spot on All-Star Cast; Dylan Cornish was named to All-Star Crew, and Josalyn Taylor was named to Honorable Mention All-Star Cast.
“I was very happy that I was recognized,” Adams said. “I was a little worried but I’m very happy we get to go to bi-district.”
There were sighs of relief all around when Buffalo was announced as advancing.
“I was so happy that we advanced,” junior Taylor Lack said. “We put so much into that play and I really wanted to go far.”
