DAPHNE — Bayside Academy Upper School theater students competed in The Walter Trumbauer High School District Festival in Mobile Saturday, Nov. 5, and many will move on to the state competition at Troy University in December.

Participating students were Adriane Clemens, Molly Hughes, Lanee Imperato, Michael Klimjack and Jack Roussos.

According to the Alabama Conference of Theatre, the Walter Trumbauer Festival has provided quality training and performance opportunities for Alabama theater students at the high school level since 1940. The educational impact of this event is substantial. The festival consists of 30 individual events, a one act play festival, a studio theater one act play festival — all for ninth through 12^th grades, as well as scholarship auditions and college screening for high school seniors and junior college students.

Students qualify for the state competition by earning a rating of “superior” at one of seven district festivals. At all levels of competition, students receive critiques from qualified teachers, professionals and theater practitioners, allowing them to improve their theatrical skills. The state festival kicks off with the scholarship audition session Thursday evening.

High school seniors and junior college students compete for four $1000 ACT Scholarships. Friday and Saturday events culminate in an Awards Ceremony where trophies, plaques, medals, and other awards are presented to recognize outstanding work in technical categories and performance areas. Two one act productions are chosen to represent Alabama at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in the spring.

Bayside Performance Ratings were:

• Jack Roussos: Superior performance of the song “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from “Les Misérables”
• Jack Roussos and Michael Klimjack: Superior performance for Neil Simon's “The Sunshine Boys”
• Molly Hughes: Superior Performance for the song “She Used to be Mine” from “Waitress”; Superior performance for her monologue “Denial”
• Adriane Clemens: Excellent performance for her song “Pulled” from “The Addams Family”
• Adriane Clemens and Lanee Imperato: Excellent performance for the scene “Career Match”
• Lanee Imperato: Superior performance for her song “When He Sees Me” from “Waitress”