Village Soup

Camden Village Soup - March 21, 2004


High school drama festival
Commendations for Camden Hills, Rockland productions

By Daniel O'Connell

ROCKPORT (March 21, 2004): As an early spring snowstorm covered the Midcoast, the weekend-long Maine State Division 1 drama finals wrapped up early Sunday morning at Camden Hills Regional High School.

Though neither Camden Hills nor Rockland District High School advanced to the New England competition, many of the local cast and crew members were recognized by the judges for their outstanding work during the course of the festival.

Hermon and Lawrence high schools were named as the winners and Yarmouth High School as the alternate to the New England Drama Festival April 22-24 at Lawrence High School in Fairfield. It will be Lawrence and fourth-place finisher Falmouth High School that will represent Maine at the competition.

Rick Ash of Camden Hills, the festival director, said Falmouth will fill Maine's second spot because Hermon didn't declare eligibilty for the New Englands and Yarmouth would be unable to attend because of school vacation scheduling conflicts.

"The kids had a great time," said Ash. "It's just unbelievable to think that 400 people came for the weekend and had a great time and supported one another."

Rockland's Jake Newcomb and Maggie Machaiek were named to the All Festival Cast. Newcomb played the role of Friar John and Machaiek played the part of Lady Macbeth in "Variations on Friar John's Failure."

Camden Hills saw three of its members named to the All Festival Cast. George Eisenhauer was named for his role as Ubu, Leah Shrier for her work as Mrs. Ubu, and Sam Lipman for his performance as Captain during the Windjammers' performance of "Ubu Roi."

It wasn't just the onstage talent that was rewarded Sunday morning. The backstage and technical crews from the two local schools also fared well during the awards ceremony.

Rockland's Annie Marcotte won a judges' commendation for set design in "Variations on Friar John's Failure" and Camden Hills' Brandon Koons won for video design in "Ubu Roi." Camden Hills also received a commendation for production design - set, costumes, lighting for "Ubu Roi."

State finalists

Hermon - "Pals"
Lawrence - "Tattercoats"

Alternate

Yarmouth - "Cleveland"
All Festival Cast:

Chris Reynolds, Norman, "The Boys Next Door," Westbrook
Carrisa Carey, Shelia, "The Boys Next Door," Westbrook
Abby Levis, Had Dillon, "Dear Emma," South Portland
Ryan Gato, Henry Dillon, "Dear Emma," South Portland
Emily Akeley, Rosa Lane, "Dear Emma," South Portland

Jake Newcomb, Friar John, "Variations on Friar John's Failure" Rockland
Maggie Machaiek, Lady Macbeth, "Variations on Friar John's Failure,"
Rockland

Krystal Willey, multiple roles, "Feiffer's People," Caribou
Micaela O'Shaughnessy, multiple roles, "Feiffer's People," Caribou
Shawn Ayotte, multiple roles, "Feiffer's People," Caribou
Kate Caulfield, Joan, "Cleveland," Yarmouth
Abby Coulter, Mother, "Cleveland," Yarmouth

George Eisenhauer, Ubu, "Ubu Roi," Camden Hills
Leah Shrier, Mrs. Ubu, "Ubu Roi," Camden Hills
Sam Lipman, Captain, "Ubu Roi," Camden Hills

Ashlee Lucas, Perdita, "Tattercoats," Lawrence
Mike Rogers, Mikel, "Tattercoats," Lawrence
Liz Andrews, The Old Nurse, "Tattercoats," Lawrence
Julien Demassey, Charlie Chaplin, "ShhÉ," Bonny Eagle
Zach La Fave, Jack, "Pals," Hermon
Mark Noyes, Steve, "Pals," Hermon
Tay Sandberg, Wendy, "Pals," Hermon
Zachery Hart, Ubu, "Where's Ubu," Waterville
Sam Duplessis, Lawyer, "Where's Ubu," Waterville
Cary Noyes, Tom Thumb the Great, "The Tragedy of Tragedies," Madison
Ford Hunter, The Writer, "The Good Doctor," Falmouth
Darren Mastropaolo, General Brassilhov / The Husband, "The Good
Doctor," Falmouth

Special commendations:

Nate Foster, Alex Kopack, Chris Reynolds, Justin Sawyer, ensemble acting
in "The Boys Next Door"

Annie Marcotte, set design, "Variations on Friar John's Failure"

Cast of "Feiffer's People," Caribou High School, ensemble acting

Alex Mora, Peter Lord, Andrew Allegretta, lighting and sound, "Cleveland"

Cheerleader ensemble, "Cleveland," ensemble choreography

Camden Hills Regional High School production design - set, costumes, lighting for "Ubu Roi"

Brandon Koons, video design, "Ubu Roi"

Todd LaBelle, lighting design, "Tattercoats"

The Fairies, "Tattercoats," ensemble acting and choreography

MaryBeth Bolte, Ashley Deane, makeup and hair design in "Shh..."

Bonny Eagle, original script, "Shh..."

Samantha Lindsey, Libby Lindsey, visual reinforcement - lighting and set
design, "Pals"

Falmouth High School, set and lighting design and execution, "The Good
Doctor"



Based in Camden, Daniel O'Connell can be reached at 207-236-8468 or by e-mail at oconnell@midcoast.com.