Thirty-four drama students received awards at the Texas State Thespian Convention in Houston, Texas, November 28 through December 1. Many of the students will go on to perform at the national level competition that begins on June 4, 2013, according to the Texas Thespian’s website.

Flower Mound High School was honored with the Troupe of the Year award. This year was the first year the award was given to any school. 150 high schools competed to receive this honor.

“The best part of the Texas State Thespian Convention was finding out we made it to nationals,” junior Madi Bready said.

Many students also performed in the All-State play, Corum Boy, which was recently adapted to represent Texas at nationals in the Full-Length Play category, of the convention.

The cast of Corum Boy included seniors Brooklyn Smith, Emilio Mazur, and Kelly Bach, and the crew of Corum Boy consisted of juniors Sophie Carlin and Sydney Gustafson.

FMHS’s choral group, Shades of Blue, also participated as the live choir with Dr. Mark Rohwer. Director Scott Taylor represented FMHS as vocal director, and was honored with the Eric Bailey Troupe Director of the year award.

“Every year one director from the state of Texas is inducted into the Texas Thespians Hall of Fame and receives the Eric Bailey Troupe Director Award,” Taylor said.  “They are nominated either by the governing board or perhaps their own troupe. I was nominated by the board. Letters of recommendation are submitted from faculty, booster clubs and peers.”

Students from the Thespian troupe also qualified for nationals in their respective competitions.

Senior Emilio Mazur qualified for the monologue, while Senior Katie Decker and junior Katelyn Holland qualified for the duet scene. Seniors Andrew Norton, Bailey McMahon, Jamie Woolf, and Jay Carlile, and juniors Ariana DeFreitas and Austin Lynch qualified for the group scene.

Senior Brooklyn Smith qualified for the solo musical category, and juniors Madi Bready and Morgan Haney became eligible for a duet musical. The group musical number “Coffee Break,” from How to Succeed, consists of sophomores Jake Emmett and Ryan Coyle, juniors Alex Giuffreda, Drew Breedlove, Frances Jiminez, and Hannah Becker, and seniors Conner Scallan, Elizabeth Buckman, Kelly Bach, Kenzi Ruther, and Olive Bieni.

The award for Short film went to senior Austin Roa, and the qualifier for costume construction is junior Sydney Gustafson.

In addition, Flower Mound’s hair and makeup team also placed second in the state competition. The team consists of juniors Ariana DeFreits and Grace Bregard, and seniors Bailey McMahon, and Katie Decker.

“We did makeup and hair for four characters from the Lion King,” senior Katie Decker said.

The Thespian troupe also performed a marathon play, Rabbit Hole, and placed as first alternates to represent Texas at the national competition. As first alternates, the troupe will perform only if the first place team cannot perform at nationals.

The cast and crew of Rabbit Hole include: sophomore Jake McMichael, juniors Drew Breedlove, Ellen Gotelli, Katelyn Holland, and Morgan Haney, and seniors Andrew Norton, Austin Roa, Bailey McMahon, Brooklyn Smith, Conner Scallan, Kelly Bach, and Katie Decker.