South San Francisco’s Spark of Creation Studio and its members were awarded numerous honors at the 2023 Junior Theater Festival West.
“Spark of Creation Studio’s students never fail to entertain an audience and the cast of ‘Legally Blonde JR.’ made sure of that by giving their all in this wonderful performance. The cast executed the inventive choreography beautifully while maintaining a vocal quality which rivals the best of the best. Congratulations to all,” said Steven G. Kennedy, vice president of iTheatrics, a co-producer of the event, about the studio’s performance of selections from "Legally Blonde the Musical Jr."
The studio’s junior team also received rave reviews for its performance of selections from “Junie B. Jones, the Musical Jr.”
“The young performers were amazing, there are no small actors here. Everyone brought fantastic energy, detailed work and a great attitude. Their story-telling and the encouragement they showed each other and other performers at the festival was full of heart,” Kelby McIntyre-Martinez, associate dean for Arts Education & Community Engagement at the College of Fine Arts, University of Utah, said.
The performances won the studio a Freddie G Excellence in Music award, named in honor of Freddie Gershon who underwrites and hosts the event with his wife Myrna. McKenna Seegmiller also won a Freddie G Outstanding Individual Performance award while director Marilou Lafon was named a Freddie G Fellowship Winner, granting her an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to collaborate with other fellows and Broadway greats. A $5,000 grant is also awarded to each winning teacher to put towards their theater programs.
Its junior team won a Freddie G Excellence in Dance award with Keana Zaragoza winning a Freddie G Outstanding Individual Performance award. Spark of Creation’s Isaac Beltran, Chloe Fong, Nicholas Lafon and Nikko Grey Seegmiller were among a small group of outstanding performers to be named Junior Theater Festival All-Stars.
The studio was also selected to perform “Disney’s Finding Nemo JR.” for festival attendees during the New Works Showcase.
Class notes is a column dedicated to school news. It is compiled by education reporter Sierra Lopez. You can contact her at (650) 344-5200, ext. 106 or at sierra@smdailyjournal.com.
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