By Tanvi Verma
Staff Writer
J.Caes: The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was declared one of three winners at Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild’s 80th Annual State Finals in Boston on April 2.
The other two winners were Hamilton-Wenham’s original production of en vélo and Manchester Essex Regional High School’s production of The Complete History of America: Abridged. Other competing schools were The Bromfield School, Tyngsborough High School, Algonquin Regional High School, Weston High School, Sharon High School, Duxbury High School, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Framingham High School, Lawrence Academy, Malden High School, and Hingham High School.
“It was fantastic. We’re all really proud of the entire cast and crew,” said Brad Fiore, Senior Design Chief who also won an All-Star Nomination at the semi-final round of the competition along with his team members Bobby Esposito, Kate Sulka, Dan Bubin, and Nick Calow.
Along with winning against 13 other schools, five Westford Academy students also took home three ‘All-Star Cast Nominations’. Will Clark received an award for his role as Marc Antony, Caleb Cedrone for his role as Casca, and Tak Wong, Ben Ngai, and Chris Horsey received an award for Choreography.
“We worked so hard, I’m so happy for the three of us,” said Chris Horsey, freshman breakdancer.
Considering how intense the competition is, it was an extraordinarily friendly environment with a lot of mingling and interaction with other schools. All participating students, including the 104 from WA, truly represented an accepting and kind community of kids.
This is, however, the end of J.Caes, if ever there could be one. WATA has decided to not move on to the New England round of the competition considering how many scheduling conflicts have arisen due to spring sports and other shows. In the end, there is absolutely no doubt about exactly how much effort went into this year’s competition production. Participants have displayed amazing commitment.
“It was a very intense and exciting weekend,” said Michael Towers, Director of the show. “I felt as if Westford Academy represented themselves very well. We executed sharply, our energy was high, our focus and commitment was on. Ultimately, I was very proud of our team.”