Bad News, Good News

Morning birdsong. The scent of plumeria in full bloom (just in time for graduation leis). Flame trees turning from orange to green.
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Bad News: Another high school student assaulted. This time a teenaged girl on her way to morning classes at Kagman High School. I don't know the extent of the assault, except that the girl was taken to the hospital. Although this crime happened yesterday (Tuesday) morning, it was not on last night's news and is not reported in today's papers. My Kagman staff were discussing it this morning. One suspect was apparently brought in and released already. Another is being sought.

(EDIT: There is talk that the situation is like that of the girl in CK--a white pick-up truck, bashed on the head, raped. I haven't been able to verify.)

It's becoming extremely worrisome when teenaged girls are attacked in daylight near their schools, in public places.

It's also troublesome when the news isn't promptly reported.

(Thursday Edit: Now reported in the Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune. Not much information released by the DPS, though.)
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Good News: Also about students. Fifteen area students from grades 6 through 12 will once again be attending the International Thespian Festival at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They will attend workshops and plays, participate in college and scholarship auditions, compete in individual events and stage their own one act production of Pullman Car Hiawatha by Thornton Wilder.

They will showcase the stage play and their individual competition pieces (which also include technical theatre presentations in costume design, scenic design, and film) Thursday, June 17 at 7 PM at the American Memorial Park auditorium. The community is invited to support these students by coming to watch. The show is free.

STAGE DOOR-tickets on sale!

The student Thespians of the Western Pacific Islands will be presenting the play "Stage Door" at PIC Charley's Cabaret on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 27 and 28, 2009 at 7 PM.

The play is a 1930's comedy, written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. (Another of their plays--The Royal Family-- is on Broadway now, in a new revival. And one of Kaufman's plays--Once In A Lifetime--is being presented this month in Los Angeles on stage and through radio theatre. So the Saipan students have a play that is very much in vogue. )

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students. I'm selling. Leave a comment --PLEASE-- and I'll get the tickets to you.

Commedia Dell'Arte in Saipan

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden--a musical



Thursday November 20
Friday November 21
Saturday November 22
7 PM

Children & Students: $5
Adults: $7.50

Dessert available for $5

PIC Charley's Cabaret

247. Thespian Students in Lincoln, Nebrask

Fifteen CNMI students went to the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska.

You can check out news of their adventures and successes at the MCS troupe blog.

198. Winners and more winners!

Today was an insane day in the world of student competitions. Regional competitions for Math Court, PGFC, and Thespians! The finals of Mock Trial!

There were students, parents, teachers and coaches actively about in Susupe--especially at the events at Guma Hustitia and MHS.

Congrats to Mount Carmel students who won the Mock Trial competition. Each year the competition steps up another notch. MBA continues to set the bar high and turn in stellar performances. This year, though, the students from MCS consistently advocated and acted through the entire grueling competition, and won the votes of the judges. [Pictures from the final competition--not great, but what I have.]

Great job to all, including the coordinators, coaches, competitors, judges, jurors, and the unsung heroes who simply did small but necessary jobs.

And thanks to Hal Easton and all the teachers and judges who made the Math Court, PGFC, and Thespians competitions happen. The competitions provide an important showcase of talent among our students.

Wow!

137. UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE

More than 40 students from Saipan area middle schools and high schools are staging the classic school drama, UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE. The play is set for 9/28 at 6:30 PM and Saturday 9/29 at 1:30 (matinee) and 6:30 PM at the Multi-Purpose Center. This is an entirely student run production-from directing to acting to costume and stage set design to tech crew. Our students learn a lot from this cooperative artistic endeavor and they do a great job with production values.

And you can't beat the prices. :-)

Hope to see you there.

109. Reports from the CNMI's Thespians

Reports are starting to trickle in from the CNMI's Thespians who participated in the International Thespian Festival at Lincoln, Nebraska.

The biggest news so far is that Jomanda Manglona won a scholarship through her competitions. Yay! And congratulations.

You can see some photos, also, over at the Mount Carmel Junior Thespians' blog troupe88799 .

Looks and sounds like they did well, had fun, learned something and made us all proud.

101. The CNMI's Summer Ambassadors

Every summer handfuls of students from the CNMI head to the mainland to compete in various activities. The students who participate in Little League have gotten press, both locally and nationally, with televised games and some commentary. But there are students who get less recognition and yet who succeed each summer in improving the image of the CNMI among their peers and the adults who spend long hours involved in the activities.

Forensics and Thespian students head out with their lines memorized, their songs humming in their ears. They have worked on their sense of timing, the dramatic pause. They speak their parts in clear, unaccented English, setting aside their island-style patter for after their performances.

The thespians start their work Monday, June 25th, in Lincoln, Nebraska, perfoming their monologues, mimes, solo musical pieces and other performances for their individual evaluations, and then working together as a group to perform a one-act play that other thespians from around the country can watch and enjoy.

And the forensics students just finished their hard work in Wichita, Kansas. I don't know all of the results, but I heard that several students finished in the top 100. Ryan Ortizo of MCS finished in the top 40. And the star CNMI student this year was MHS student Rachel Reyes, who finished 9th in storytelling among all of the students from around the U.S.

Imagine a CNMI student finishing in the top 10 of any academic competition open to all U.S. students! That's what Rachel did. Congratulations to her and to all who helped make her success possible (like Harold Easton, MHS drama teacher).

And thanks to Rachel and the other students for the positive image you help share about the CNMI as unofficial summer ambassadors.

70. TWPI

TWPI-That's Thespians of the Western Pacific! Our dramatic middle and high school students had their regional competition Saturday, April 21, 2007 at WSR. Despite the intermittent rain that turned to steam in the sun, the students managed to keep their cool and perform their pieces with flair and panache.

Winning in the high school Thespian competition:
Regional 1st places: Monologue: Ryan Gutierez.
Duet: Richelle Denora and Ryan Gutierez
Solo Musical: Tikla Brown
Mime: Moon Lee and Tommy Baik

The cumulative points for the entire Thespian season resulted in the same top place awards, except in Solo Musical, where Joan T. Liwanag outscored Tikla by 2 points for the overall seasonal win, despite the regional competition result.


Winning in the junior Thespian competition:
Regional 1st places: Monologue: Anna Rose DLGuerrero*
Duet: Dayanara Flores and R. Banados
Solo Musical: Anna Rose DLGuerrero*
Mime: J. Camacho and N. Salem

Duet and Mime regional first place winners were also the top finishers in the overall points in their categories. But cumulative points resulted in overall wins in Monologue by Dayanara Flores, and in Solo Musical by Akiko Dela Cruz.


Those with the highest cumulative points may participate in national competition at the International Thespian Society (ITS) Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska, scheduled in late June this year. There may be some slight variations, as students who won in more than one category opt for the one they'll compete in, and possibly second place winners will then compete instead; or if any student winner doesn't go to the nationals, the second or even third place finisher may take the place. It's a juggling act right now!

Congratulations to all students who participated.

Each year, we're seeing more and more students in tighter competitions. Performing arts are an important part of the school curriculum, with arts mandated to be part of the No Child Left Behind program. The talent among our kids is pretty impressive, but more important are the benefits in language development, teamwork, and cultural understanding that drama promotes.

If you want to see the complete scorecard and speculate about the national competition line-up, you can view the matrix here .

Good luck to the Thespians and Junior Thespians who will be representing TWPI in the nationals at the ITS Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. Have fun and break a leg.


*P.S. Yes, the one and only daughter of mine! The flair for the dramatic is growing stronger. I didn't think that possible.

42. A Funny Thing

The Thespians of the Western Pacific staged A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum on February 24, 2007 at the MHS gym.

The show is a hilarious romp through ancient Rome, where Senex (Antonio Tiples) is henpecked by his wife, Domina (Jocelyn Lonsdale), but plans a quiet escape from her while in the countryside;

their son Hero (Tommy Baik) falls in love with a would-be courteson, Philia (Tikla Brown)

and the old neighbor, Erroneus (Jongwon Lee) searches for his long lost son and daughter. Only Pseudolus (Ryan Gutierrez), the slave, is complaining because he wants his freedom.

Pseudolus decides to win his freedom by arranging for a tryst between Hero and Philia. Lycus (Matt Wheat), the purveyor of the courtesans, tries to interest Hero in the other courtesans like Gymnasia (Joan Liwanag), but gladly accepts payment for Philia when Hero insists on her, except that Lycus has already arranged for Philia's marriage to the military leader, Miles Gloriosus (Moon Hyo Lee).

Pseudolus tries to get the contract for Philia from Miles through a fantastic ruse.

Hysterium (Christian Cruz), another slave, poses as the betrothed "lovely" Philia. Too bad that Senex unexpectedly finds himself attracted to the beauty.

And then Hysterium pretends to be dead. Pseudolus hopes to convince Miles that, with his bride dead, Miles can move on to other pastures, and thereby give room for the possibility that Hero and Philia end up together so Pseudolus can gain his freedom.

The ploy comes undone.

Filled with songs like Comedy Tonight, Lovely, and Everybody Ought to Have a Maid, the show is rollicking good fun. The supporting cast of Proteans/soldiers and Courtesans dash around the stage, sing lustily and enhance the humor.

And everyone gets a happy ending, with Erroneus learning that Miles is his son and Philia is his daughter, which puts an end to Miles' betrothal, unites Hero and Philia, and provides Pseudolus with his freedom. Happily ever after, for all.

Well, except for Senex, who is still married to Domina.

The TWPI did a great job staging the show, getting laughs with the right timing. The audiences for the two performances on Saturday were enthusiastic, if small. And the student thespians, along with the student band, and the student tech-crew, proved once again how talented and hard-working our kids are. Kudos to them all.

28. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

This Saturday, February 24, 2007, the Thespians are staging AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum. Tickets are just $5. Shows are at 2 PM and 7 PM at the MHS gym.

A 20th century farce based on the Roman tradition, the musical includes songs that have contemporary application, like "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid." Listen to the melody here: Everybody

This is the third Sondheim musical brought to Saipan in recent years. West Side Story and Into the Woods also showcased the multi-talented students of Saipan. Students from the public schools, private schools and home schools cooperate to bring this production to life.

Some of the characters and their actors:
Hero--Tommy Baik
Domina--Jocelyn Lonsdale
Senex--Antonio Tiples
Philia--Tikla Brown
Pseudolus--Ryan Gutierrez
Hysterium--Christian Cruz
Marcus Lycus--Matt Wheat
Miles--Moon Lee

Of course there are Courtesans and Proteans and a few other characters (like Erroneus!)

You can get tickets from any cast member, from me (just comment here or e-mail me), or at the door.

Theatre arts offer our kids a creative outlet, help improve their vocabulary and understanding of literature and life, and have no downside. I hope the community will show up to support these students and to enjoy the show.