18 Ladue students traveled to the International Thespian Society Missouri State Conference for a three-day, theatre-filled convention, January 9-11, 2014.

The convention, hosted by Missouri State Thespians at the Renaissance Hotel and America’s Center in downtown St. Louis, welcomed several hundred students from across Missouri.

Every year, the convention holds workshops in a multitude of theatrical aspects, ranging from musical improvisation to staged sword fighting. These workshops are held by professionals in theatre and other performing arts fields, such as circus, stage combat and Shakespearean monologue performance. While most workshops are open to all levels of actors and technicians, some workshops, such as “Tips and Tricks to Optimizing Your Sound System” and “Sing Your Act Off,” are intended only for conference delegates with more extensive previous knowledge and experience.

The convention also hosts multiple one-act performances. Missouri high schools could submit a one-act or mainstage production to the all-state conference for evaluation. At the end of the application and judging process, one mainstage production and five one-acts were selected to be featured at the conference. Audience members included conference delegates, troupe directors, and conference staff.

In addition to school productions, this year’s thespian convention featured an All-State Show. Every few years, auditions are held at the state thespian conference in search for the highest-achieving actors and technicians in Missouri, with the intent of creating an All-State Show comprised of the “Missouri All-State Company.”

After auditioning at the 2013 state thespian conference, a cast and crew from around the state was selected to participate in the 2014 production of “Violet,” composed and written by Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley, respectively. Accompanied by a live orchestra pit, the cast performed twice at the America’s Center’s Ferrara Theatre.

Students who excel in the theatrical arts have the option to sign up for an Individual Event, or IE. In an IE, a student prepares a short scene, song or technical design to share with a panel of event adjudicators.

This year, Ladue’s Janine Norman, junior, participated in a musical IE, performing “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from “The Phantom of the Opera” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Janine earned the highest possible rating of “accomplished.”

Furthermore, senior Sam Israel’s and junior Jack Lavey’s scene from “Summertree,” by Ron Cowen, came a few points away from earning an “accomplished” rating as well.

“We were just a few points shy of the highest possible rating, but we weren’t really in it for the score,” said Lavey. “The experience and critique is what we really appreciated.”

In addition, Ladue’s theatrical improvisation team, Dueprov, excelled at the annual Improv Olympix. The team received the highest rating of “accomplished” from five out of six judges.

Similar to the improvisational competition, the conference also hosted a competition for Missouri theatre technicians, featuring events such as hanging and focusing a light; folding a drop; coiling a cable; and setting a table with props.

“We took first in lighting and cable coiling, and second in sounds and knots,” said senior Sam Picus. “Then we took first place overall, meaning we were the best tech team in the state of Missouri.”

Even for the less-involved thespians of the state, this conference provides a myriad of options to both enjoy and learn from the experience the conference has to offer.

“ITS conference was a blast, and I’m so glad that I’m part of this huge theatre community,” said Lavey. “It’s truly inspiring to be around that many people who share the same passion as you do.”