Victory!

At long last the awaited Sears Fest performance came and went for La Troupe Royale. February 25th 2014 the cast of Daniel Zeiter-Smiths' 'Parés au décollage?' readied themselves to leave it all on that stage following L'Essors production of 'Poof'. As they took to the vast Walkerville stage nerves were high and expectations even higher. Fortunately, the ensemble rallied together to give the performance of a lifetime which produced laughs, tears and brought spectators to the extremes of their emotions. "All along the journey, I could not help but feel ready and able because of all of the support we had gotten and continue to receive. Backstage, before the bow sequence, many of our tears would not cease to flow - an undeniable symbol of the passion and devotion we had all put into the production. As we all poured out onto the stage for that final moment, I am sure you could see the triumph on all of our faces. We did it." said Natalie Reid.

Was it enough?

Friday February 28th the participating schools from Windsor Essex met at Walkerville for the awards ceremony and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. First the merit awards were announced, followed by acting awards. Here, Lajeunesse had its first victory with Florine Ndimubandis award for Best Supporting Actress. Daniel took home another two awards for Best Original Production and Writing and Directing. Following those, the original music used in 'Parés au décollage?' won an award for its superb quality.   The moment of truth soon after arrived, it was time to announce the 3 outstanding productions that would move on to the regional competition in Hamilton. Two spots were taken by the WCCA program at Walkerville and its production 'This is for You Anna" and by Leamington Secondary Schools  production of 'Oh, Brother!'. The third spot (but announced before both others) was taken by Lajeunesse!

For the second year in a row and the second time in school history La Troupe Royale will move on and compete at a higher and more intense level. It was a proud moment for all the actors, the technicians, stage

mangers, musicians, producer and of course the wonderful director. Tears of joy were shed in sheer awe and amazement over the outstanding accomplishment. It is an amazing thing when such a small school that not only has under 400 students but  that also speaks a different language can compete with art programs 2, 3, even 4 times its size! Lajeunesse's Director and Producer then received a one on one adjudication with specific details on how to improve 'Parés au décollage?' before entering the next round of competition to be held in the beginning of April. It is now do or die time for the actors as they prepare to change what needs to be changed in time!                                                                                                

I think I speak for all of us when I say a huge thank you to Kevin Noecker for his dedication and time, to John Nabben for his support and help with our production, to Renee Fox and Emily Kotsis-Wilder for their excellent stage and tech management and to Daniel for his care and effort. Without all these contributing dedicated leaders we would not have attained such success.

                                         (Renee Fox and Madison Gignac-me with the award for outstanding production)

More details of our progress on the way!
Bye!


Sources
https://publicboard.ca/schools/walkerville/Pages/default.aspx
https://publicboard.ca/schools/ldss/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.wccadrama.com/