‘Beauty’ earns top honors

Laguna Beach High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” was the recipient of multiple honors Sunday at the Music & Art Commendation for Youth (MACY) Awards.

The critically acclaimed production was chosen out of 40 other schools for the honor of not only receiving the award for Most Spectacular Show, but was also being selected as the opening and closing act of the awards ceremony.

Sande St. John, who is a founding board member of the No Square Theatre in Laguna Beach, was one of the MACY judges who views the more than 40 Southern California high school shows a year.

St. John said the show was selected because it was excellent across the board in acting, lighting, costumes, energy, sets and music.

“It had all the elements we were looking for,” St. John said.

The MACYs have been honoring excellence in high school theater since 1971 when the awards ceremony was founded by Lee Childress. It aims to bring high school productions into the spotlight.

“It was such an honor to be able to do that and to make people aware of how hard these kids work,” St. John said.

“Beauty and the Beast” director Mark Dressler accepted the award for Most Spectacular Show. He compared the title to Best Picture in the Academy Awards.

The biggest honor though, Dressler said, was opening and closing the show. St. John said usually two schools are asked to perform, one for opening and one for closing, but in this case “Beauty and the Beast” was so good, it deserved both spots.

“That day when we saw the show, we knew we had to go no further. They had to open,” St. John said.

St. John said it’s usually the arts schools like Orange County High School of the Arts or the Academy of Performing Arts in Huntington Beach that are called on to open or close the show, but in this case the art schools were unseated.

The performers came early in the morning to rehearse on the unfamiliar stage of the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton where the awards show was staged. Dressler said not only did they have to make do without sets, but choreographer Tod Kubo had to re-choreograph their dance to fit a different stage.

All of this was the morning after the High School’s prom, adding another challenge.

“The kids were dragging in the morning,” Dressler said.

Despite the adversities, Dressler said the cast pulled off a great performance.

Since Most Spectacular Show is the last award of the evening, Dressler said he saw his students waiting in wings ready to perform. He said seeing them onstage with him while they got the prestigious title was an experience he won’t soon forget.

“To see the kids jumping up and down gleefully was a really special experience,” Dressler said.

Along with the performances and Most Spectacular Show awards, individual awards were given out.

Morea Arthur, Nicolai Doreng-Stearns and Kelly Hancock received Bright Spot Awards, Josh Spoon received Special Recognition, and Brendan McGrady, Luke Sanders and Sam Trusley received Achievement.

Celena DelPizzo-Howell and Austin Giangeruso received Outstanding Achievement awards and Noah Plomgren and Kimmie Reisman received Highest Achievement awards.

Kubo was honored for 17 years serving as a school choreographer.