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Theatre Under the Stars had its annual Tommy Tune awards Tuesday, the coveted Tonys for local high schools.
Judges saw 41 productions in the 2007-08 school year, God bless `em. The biggest surprise (to us)? A religious school did Urinetown. Those scamps at Episcopal, man.
It paid off, though, because they won the Best Musical award. The production also took home honors for Best Leading Actor (Ben Estus as Bobby Strong), Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Ensemble/Chorus and Best Scenic Design.
The other big winner was Cinco Ranch, which did Jekyll & Hyde and won for Best Featured Performer (Leighton Schlanger as Spider), Best Musical Direction, Best Crew & Technical Execution, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design and Best Lighting Design.
Other winners included Clear Creek High, which won Best Orchestra for Pirates of Penzance; Katy High’s Grace Glass, who won Best Supporting Actress climbin’ ev’ry mountain as Mother Abbess in Sound of Music; Memorial High’s Marlen Nahhas for Best Leading Actress as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun; and Stratford's Al Fallick as Best Supporting Actor as the Cowardly Lion in Wizard of Oz.
Congratulations all, and we expect to see your names up in lights ASAP. – Richard Connelly