The Avalon Theatre Company was able to bring its best efforts in the past months with its vibrant cast to bring wonderful performances for its audiences.
The team performed at a Virginia Theatre Association (VTA) conference to compete with their original piece, Tower of Thorns led by directors Nicole Shepherd, Molly Harper, Sarah Anderson, and Steve Carrol. This was their first in-person conference to compete in since 2019 with The Story of a Firefly that had the superior rating. They performed the piece at Champe the day before to have prior preparation and experience of how the piece would be on competition day. They competed in Richmond on the evening of October 24th and gave their best efforts to perform for the judges and audience.
“I feel honored to be a part of such a close-knit and hardworking group,” senior Kiera Murray said. “I was nervous on competition day, but was confident in myself and my team.”
Before the company’s VTA conference at Richmond, Shepherd developed strategies to strengthen the company’s chances of winning. She hosted rehearsals after school for the company’s young actors to attend. During the rehearsals, they would focus on practicing each line and scene of the script daily for an hour and a half, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., each day of the week. Shepherd prepared costumes for the show by gathering a set team to work on concept ideas to create unique garments to fully represent the piece’s character, theme, and message.
“We go off a script that we pay licensing for,” Shepherd said. “We have to do whatever the script tells us to do, so we don’t get to pick the elements that go into it. Just the script and our selection.”
Next month, they’ll be having their own Fall Mainstage, “The Westing Game” at school for a limited time from November 16th through the 18th. Audiences will be able to purchase and find tickets on Champehs.booktix.com. All payments will be used to raise money for future shows.
“The upcoming fall play is a really exciting one since it’s a murder mystery,” senior Alexis McGuffin said. “It can become confusing if you aren’t paying attention, but this cast is really fun to work with and I’m looking forward to hearing audience reactions for certain parts.”
Since the company’s foundation in 2013, it has gained a wonderful reputation through its mission to raise money for future proceeds through performing successful musicals and plays.
Among the company’s several plays, the two that gained the most attraction among audiences were Christmas Carol in 2016, and Tuck Everlasting in 2019 both directed by Shepherd.
As a whole, the company is delighted to finally perform again for this year’s VTA conference after the events of COVID and the pandemic. Shepherd, the team, and the actors will always embrace their shared goal of connecting families together with their cheerful performances.
“Our overall show went well. Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties with the lighting system, but our team was able to manage and have a good show,” sophomore Caroline Chatman said. “We were very proud to compete this year.”
