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Schenley has the biggest night, taking home nine trophies

Sunday, June 02, 2002

By Christopher Rawson, Post-Gazette Drama Editor

The 12th annual Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater were announced last night at a Benedum Center packed to the rafters with cheering students, families and friends.

	Pine-Richland students performing "Tradition," a selection from "Fiddler on the Roof," nominated for Best Musical at the annual Gene Kelly Awards, won a Kelly for Best Costumes last night at the Benedum. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) High school musicals just keep getting better

Pittsburgh CLO's Van Kaplan presided over the Tony Awards-style gala, in which three schools nominated for best musical in each of three budget categories performed excerpts, while local celebrities and educators announced the awards. The grand finale united two students each from 26 Allegheny County high schools in "Eyes on the Goal," a number celebrating the team work and joys of musical theater.

As always, the opulent walls of the Benedum resounded to great volleys of cheers, but the hoarsest students had to be those from Schenley. Although 21 schools had been nominated and 10 won awards, Schenley (in the medium budget category) was by far the biggest winner, taking home nine of the coveted trophies.

To put this in historic perspective, it nearly equals the record set in 1999 by Woodland Hills. That year, Woodland Hills was nominated in 11 of the 12 categories in which it was eligible, winning 10. This year, Schenley was eligible in 11 categories and nominated in 10, winning nine. It was ineligible in the two lead performer categories because its show, "The Melody Lingers On," a 40-song Irving Berlin revue, is considered an ensemble show without leads.

	Audio excerpt A special judges award went to the student barbershop quartet from McKeesport High School that performed in the musical "The Music Man." Here's how they sang their acceptance speech for winning the award: McKeesport quartet (File size: 321K) The North Allegheny High School cast of "How to Succeed in Business, Without Really Trying" sings "The Brotherhood of Man." The soloist is Trey Compton, who also won Best Actor. North Allegheny cast (File size: 467K) The Schenley High School cast of "The Melody Lingers On" sings "Steppin' Out With My Baby." They won best musical/budget level II. Schenley High School cast (File size: 470K) The Winchester Thurston cast of "Hello Dolly" sings "Going to New York." They won best musical/budget level I. Winchester Thurston cast (File size: 470K) Visit the following sites to download players for Windows or Mac machines to listen to the file: Real Player Microsoft Windows Media Player WinAMP

Deer Lakes and Winchester Thurston split the awards in the low budget category, with Winchester Thurston winning best musical overall. There was a surprise in the high budget category, where North Allegheny was judged best overall, although Pine-Richland won for sets, lights and costumes.

Two special judges awards for achievements outside the usual categories went to actor/trumpeter Robert Kircher from Brentwood and the four members of the barbershop quartet in McKeesport's "The Music Man."

Two winners sang their thanks. Best actress Brittany Taylor added approprite lyrics to a song from "Evita," while the McKeesport barbershop quartet showed their special art.

The Charles Gray Award for Special Achievement in Arts Education was presented to Shaler Area Middle School, cited for its ability to focus student learning on the arts, its variety of required artistic experiences and the core role arts plays in its curriculum.

Among the presenters were Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene Kelly's widow; Morgan Fairchild, starring in the CLO's "Singin' in the Rain" (opening Tuesday); and Attilio "Buck" Favorini, representing the University of Pittsburgh, which is the CLO's partner in presenting the Kelly Awards. Additional support comes from the CLO Ambassadors.

LOW BUDGET
Eight schools entered: Pittsburgh High School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), "Where Mystery Lies"; Deer Lakes, "Once Upon a Mattress"; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, "Godspell"; Perry Traditional, "The Baker's Wife"; South Allegheny, "Footloose"; St. Joseph, "Godspell"; Vincentian, "Into the Woods"; Winchester Thurston, "Hello, Dolly!"
Best overall: Winchester Thurston.
Sets: Deer Lakes.
Lighting: Deer Lakes.
Costumes: Winchester Thurston.

MEDIUM BUDGET
Nine schools entered: Brentwood, "1940s Radio Hour"; Canevin Catholic, "My Favorite Year"; Chartiers Valley, "Footloose"; McKeesport, "The Music Man"; North Catholic, "Annie Get Your Gun"; Quaker Valley, "The Music Man"; Schenley, "The Melody Lingers On"; Seton-LaSalle, "Miss Liberty"; Steel Valley, "Oliver."
Best overall: Schenley.
Sets: Schenley.
Lighting: Schenley.
Costumes: Canevin Catholic.

HIGH BUDGET
Nine schools entered: Baldwin, "The Music Man"; Montour, "The Will Rogers Follies"; North Allegheny, "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; Penn Hills, "The Wizard of Oz"; Pine-Richland, "Fiddler on the Roof"; Plum, "Fiddler on the Roof"; Riverview, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Springdale, "Peter Pan"; Woodland Hills, "Evita."
Best overall: North Allegheny.
Sets: Pine-Richland.
Lighting: Pine-Richland.
Costumes: Pine-Richland.

ALL LEVELS
Direction: Schenley.
Choreography: Schenley.
Crew/technical design: Chartiers Valley.
All-student orchestra: Schenley.
Vocal ensemble: Schenley.
Supporting actor: Mike Wilson, Mike, Schenley.
Supporting actress: Angela Machi, Angela, Schenley.
Lead actor: Trey Compton, Finch, North Allegheny.
Lead actress: Brittany Taylor, Evita, Woodland Hills.
Judges Awards: Robert Kircher, Biff, Brentwood; Nate Kasprzyk, Allen Link, Grant Ruccio and Ryan Suskey, Barbershop Quartet, McKeesport.