Chelan High School drama nominated for Apple Awards

CHELAN – Chelan High School's Blackhorn Drama Guild has been nominated in two categories for the 2024 Annual Apple Awards.

The Numerica Performing Arts Center recently announced nominees for the Apple Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in high school theater in the region. The awards recognize excellence in musical and stage play performances.

Chelan's production of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was nominated for Best Overall Play, and junior David Kelly's performance as Scarecrow was nominated for Best Supporting Performer in a Play.

"Being nominated for best overall play among such strong casts is an honor," said Cindy Bertomeu, Blackhorn Drama Guild Director.

"Our cast and crew put in long hours rehearsing to bring the classic story of Dorothy's and her companions, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion, to life," Bertomeu said. "Audience members repeatedly complimented us on how our costumes were fun and original, with just the right nods to the movie."

"The great thing about this show is that while it is Dorothy's story, everyone gets to shine throughout. Our ensemble members filled multiple roles, changing from Munchkins to trees or flowers and then into flying monkeys," Bertomeu said. "Many of our funniest lines were between the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Woodsman, which ultimately led to David Kelly's nomination for Best Supporting Performer in a Play, for his zany antics as the Scarecrow." 

Kelly has been acting with Blackhorn Drama since 6th grade and is the club president, Bertomeu said.

"His dedication and growth as an actor have well earned him recognition among the region's finest high school thespians," she said.

The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at the Numerica Performing Arts Center in Wenatchee.

Brian Higgins will direct the awards ceremony. Higgins is a teacher at Wenatchee High School, a frequent performer in local theater, and a director for Quincy's community theater. 

"The evening will run like a Hollywood awards show," Higgins said. "We'll be handing out awards to winners in each category, and interspersed amongst those awards presentations will be performances from nominees and cast members from each of the high schools."

"We are highlighting nominees in each of those performances, both musical and dramatic scenes, and they will, for the most part, perform scenes and songs from the shows their schools performed this year," he said. 

"We have a few other performances we'll see during the evening, but we're trying to keep some things as a surprise for our audience," he said. "Ultimately, we want to provide our attendees with a show—a meaningful experience and a chance to celebrate and share their gratitude for the hard work these groups have put in across our communities."

"We look forward to highlighting some of our cast in the awards with a brief scene, and we are excited to see other schools recreate moments from their shows as well," Bertomeu said. "The awards night will be quite the event."

Alex Haley, Director of Programming and Marketing for the Numerica Performing Arts Center, said the nominees were chosen by the Apple Academy, a group of community members, actors, and directors in the Greater Wenatchee Area. 

"Schools nominate two performers in each category (Lead and Supporting), and the evaluators can nominate additional standouts they see during the performances," Haley said. 

Academy members attend each show throughout the school year and provide feedback that gets scored for each award category. After all the scores are tabulated, they reconvene to discuss each production and performer in detail, he said. 

"Finally, they use a ranked voting system to determine the final winners, announced during the ceremony," Haley said. "The Numerica PAC facilitates this entire process but remains neutral throughout. The Apple Academy, presenters, and director of the ceremony are all unaware of the award recipients until they're presented that night."

"My personal goal for the evening, second to celebrating those students, is to connect those students to the people in their communities who are continuing to make the arts a part of their daily life," Higgins said. "To do that, I am inviting people from each of those communities that serve our high schools to be a part of the awards show." 

"Our list of awards presenters includes people from Chelan, Cashmere, Wenatchee, Quincy, East Wenatchee and Leavenworth," Higgins said. "We have representatives from the arts organizations in these communities, including Music Theater Wenatchee and Quincy Valley Allied Arts." 

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and can be purchased at NumericaPAC.org or at the Numerica PAC Box Office (123 N. Wenatchee Ave.), which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The 2024 Apple Awards Nominees

Best Overall Musical

• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Wenatchee High School
• Mamma Mia! – Cashmere High School
• The Addams Family – Quincy High School
• The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson Musical – Eastmont High School

Best Overall Play

• Murder on the Orient Express – Quincy High School
• Radium Girls – Eastmont High School
• Sabrina Fair – Cashmere High School
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Chelan High School

Best Ensemble in a Musical

• Mamma Mia! – Cashmere High School
• The Addams Family – Quincy High School
• The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson Musical – Eastmont High School

Best Ensemble in a Play

• Murder on the Orient Express – Quincy High School
• Radium Girls – Eastmont High School
• Sabrina Fair – Cashmere High School

Best Lead Performer in a Musical

• Alexi Birrueta Ramos as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (Quincy High School)
• Ali Moran as Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia! (Cashmere High School)
• Emma Banker as Olive Ostrovsky in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

(Wenatchee High School)

• Grant Chisholm as Percy Jackson in The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson Musical

(Eastmont High School)

• Lily Erdmann as Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! (Cashmere High School)
• Maya Scanlon as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre in 25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee (Wenatchee High School)

• Savannah Webb as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (Wenatchee High School)

Best Supporting Performer in a Musical

• Allie Manly as Alice Beinecke in The Addams Family (Quincy High School)
• Gabby Winchester as Tanya Cresham-Leigh in Mamma Mia! (Cashmere High School)
• Gavin Hundley as Grover in The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson Musical (Eastmont High

School)

• JazzLynn Padron as Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family (Quincy High School)
• Liam Schmidt as Moonface Martin in Anything Goes (Wenatchee High School)
• Rowan Kappler as Luke Castellan in The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson Musical

(Eastmont High School)

• Savannah Webb as Rona Lisa Peretti in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

(Wenatchee High School)

Best Lead Performer in a Play

• Ali Moran as Sabrina Fairchild in Sabrina Fair (Cashmere High School)
• Alicia Lasley Pineda as Greta Ohlsson in Murder in the Orient Express (Quincy High

School)

• Annesley Edwards as Grace Fryer in Radium Girls (Eastmont High School)
• Dylan Cornea as Linus Larrabee Jr in Sabrina Fair (Cashmere High School)
• Rowan Kappler as Arthur Roeder in Radium Girls (Eastmont High School)

Best Supporting Performer in a Play

• Allie Manly as Countess Adrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (Quincy High School)
• Clara Lebow as Diane Roeder in Radium Girls (Eastmont High School)
• David Kelly as Scarecrow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chelan High School)
• Gabby Winchester as Aunt Julia in Sabrina Fair (Cashmere High School)
• Lily Erdmann as Maude Larrabee in Sabrina Fair (Cashmere High School)

Quinn Propst: 509-731-3590 or quinn@ward.media.