Past TFY Events

Two Theatre for Youth(TFY) Festivals, events of the Alabama Conference of Theatre, were held this spring.  The first TFY festival was at Saint James School, Montgomery, AL, on February 25, 2023, and the second at Collins Intermediate School, Scottsboro, AL on March 11, 2023.  Nearly 200 students from 13 elementary and middle school drama programs participated

Two Theatre for Youth(TFY) Festivals, events of the Alabama Conference of Theatre, were held this spring.  The first TFY festival was at Saint James School, Montgomery, AL, on February 25, 2023, and the second at Collins Intermediate School, Scottsboro, AL on March 11, 2023.  Nearly 200 students from 13 elementary and middle school drama programs participated. The participating organizations were Gwin Elementary (Hoover), Opelika Theatre Company, Prattville Junior High School, Bumpus Middle School (Hoover), Rudd Middle School (Jefferson County), The Studio (Mobile), Thompson Middle School (Shelby County), Trace Crossings Elementary (Hoover), UMS-Wright Preparatory School (Mobile), Wetumpka Middle School, Collins Drama Club (Scottsboro), Discovery Middle School (Huntsville) Lee Scott Academy, Rainbow Middle School.

Coordinating the events were Cindy Harper, Executive Director, Melissa Strickland, Chair, Theatre for Youth, Ashley Bishop, Vice Chair, Theatre for Youth, and hosts Lonny Harrison at St James School, and Matt Brewer at Collins Intermediate School.  The judges were Jessica Lucas, Kim Mason, Charles Thompson, Allison Keene, Cam Williams, Angie Dixon, Drew Wingate, Rachel Pickering, Daniel Harris, Roy Lightner, and Randy Foster., Sara Argiro, Wesley Rorex, Vanessa Marcum, Paul Stevenson and Brian Adkins. Workshops leaders were Brian Adkins, Kayleigh Smith, Sean Golson, and Ashely Portis.

The Theatre for Youth Festival provide quality training workshops and performance opportunities for Alabama theatre students in 4^th through 8th grade. The festival consists of solo, duet and group acting events, solo, duet and group musical theatre events, pantomime, and a technical theatre showcase. The top three students in each event receiving a Superior score are named to the All-Star Cast and receive a medal. 

All-Star Cast from TFY-Montgomery

All-Star Cast from TFY-Scottsboro:

Two Theatre for Youth(TFY) Festivals were scheduled for the spring.  The first TFY festival was at Saint James School, Montgomery, AL, on March 5, 2022, and the second at Collins Intermediate School, Scottsboro, AL on March 12, 2022 was canceled due to inclement weather.  We were unable to reschedule it.  Nearly 130 students from 9 elementary and middle school drama programs participated. The participating organizations were Bayside Academy, Prattville Junior High School, The Studio (Mobile), Thompson Middle School (Shelby County), Wetumpka Middle School, Collins Intermediate School, Discovery Middle School (Huntsville) and Trace Crossings Elementary School (Hoover).

Coordinating the events were Cindy Harper, Executive Director, Melissa Strickland, Chair, Theatre for Youth, Ashley Bishop, Vice Chair, Theatre for Youth, and hosts Lonny Harrison at St James School, and Matt Brewer at Collins Intermediate School.  The judges were Lani Dill, Jeff Glass, Jason Cox, Justin McGuire, Randy Foster, Jay Russell, Ricky Higby, Steve Mitchel, Tammy Ardvison, Eric Ardvison, and Ashley Bishop.  Workshops were led by Brady Walker, Madison Cornett and Sean Golson.

The Theatre for Youth Festival provide quality training workshops and performance opportunities for Alabama theatre students in 4^th through 8th grade. The festival consists of solo, duet and group acting events, solo, duet and group musical theatre events, pantomime, and a technical theatre showcase. The top three students in each event receiving a Superior score are named to the All-Star Cast and receive a medal. 

All Star Cast – Montgomery:

The ACT Theatre for Youth Division held a virtual festival in 2021.If was coordinated by Cindy Harper, Executive Director, Melissa Strickland, Chair, Theatre for Youth, Ashley Bishop, Vice Chair, Theatre for Youth. Participating organizations included: Trace Crossings Elementary (Hoover), UMS-Wright Preparatory School (Mobile) Rocky Ridge Elementary School (Hoover) Green Valley Elementary School (Hoover), Discovery Middle School (Huntsville), Red Door Theatre and Bumpus Middle School (Hoover). About 120 students participated.

Judges for the events included Ania Briggs, Holly Aldridge, Vivienne Atkins, Catherine Barlow, Delle Kincaid, Kelleybrooke Brown, B Dyson, Clay Boyce, Kim Mason, Olivia Dodd, Tammy Fine, David Shellnut, M Adams, Melva Jackson, Sara Margaret Cates, Lani Dill, Jesse Bates, Margaret Delaney, Cathrine Barlow, Andrew Duxbury, Janice Glore, and Kelly Deiss

All students received participation certificates and feedback from the judges on their submitted videos.

The ACT Theatre for Youth Division scheduled two festivals for the year.  The first was scheduled March 14, 2020 at Collins Intermediate School in Scottsboro, AL.  The second was to be at Saint James School in Montgomery on April 4, 2020.  Both were canceled due to COVID restrictions.

The ACT Theatre for Youth Division held a Middle/Elementary School festival on April 7, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. James School, Montgomery, AL.  Lonny Harrison of St. James hosted while Cheryl Pointer Jones served as Division Chair. ACT Board Members from the Community Theatre, Secondary, and College/University divisions came out to support the event.

Participating organizations included: Albertville City School, Brewbaker Middle School, CAST Kids, CharACTers Children’s Theatre, Cloverdale Playhouse, Florence Academy of Fine Arts, Holtville Middle School, Fort Payne Middle School, Lee-Scott Academy, Pell City School-Duran North, Pike Road Historic School, Pleasant Grove Middle School, Prattville Junior High School, Saint James School, Springwood School, The Westminster School at Oak Mountain, UMS-Wright Preparatory School, and the Virginia Samford Theatre. One hundred and forty students registered as either novice (4th – 5th grades) or varsity (6th – 8th grades) to compete in six events: solo acting-novice; solo-acting-varsity; duet acting-novice; duet acting-varsity; musical theatre-novice; musical theatre-varsity. Participation numbers doubled from last year’s festival.

Judges for the events included Cheryl Pointer, Brittany May and Declan Fitzpatrick (Solo Acting); Kecia McAlpine, Kayleigh Smith, and Matthew Klinger (Duet Acting); and Kristy Meanor, Emily Honey, and Josie Roseberg (Musical Theatre).

Dustin Helmer of ASFA conducted 3 workshops during the event.

Festival Host Lonny Harrison handled the logistics of finding judges, assigning rooms, and creating the schedule. Festival Director Sue Ellen Gerrells handled the event publicity, registration, fee collection, on-site sign in, name tag and other printed materials preparation, and catering for the event. Dawn Gerrells assisted with on-site activities.

The following awards were presented:

Solo Acting Novice Winners:

1st place – Jay Collins, Lee-Scott Academy

2nd place- Noah Henninger, Cloverdale Playhouse

3rd place – Campbell Thomas, Lee-Scott Academy

Honorable Mention- LeAnne Hall, CAST Kidz

Solo Acting-Varsity Winners:

1st place- Tristen Gressett, Pell City School

2nd Place – Landon Perdue, Cloverdale Playhouse

3rd place – Maliya Gregg, Albertville City School

Honorable Mention – Zoe Zink, Cloverdale Playhouse 

Duet Acting-Novice-Winners:

1st place — AvaRose Brown and Lisa Jones, Albertville City Schools

2nd place — Jay Collins and Reese Colley, Lee-Scott Academy

3rd place — Chloe Goggans and Kendall Binkley, Fort Payne Middle School

Honorable Mention — Emily Jo Matthews and Aubree Brown, Springwood School 

Duet Acting-Varsity-Winners

1st place — Kameryn Ballard and Rebecca Schannep, Prattville Junior High

2nd place — Tucker and Griffin Simmons, Albertville City Schools

3rd place — Zoe Zink and Landon Perdue, Cloverdale Playhouse

Honorable Mention — Cooper Townsend and Jesse Darnell, Florence Academy of Fine Arts

Musical Theatre-Novice- Winners

1st place — Lisa Jones, Albertville City Schools

2nd place — AvaRose Brown, Albertville City Schools

3rd place — LeAnne Hall, CAST Kidz

Honorable Mention — Grace Jacobs, Albertville City Schools 

Musical Theatre-Varsity-winners:

1st place: Jadon Davis, CharACTers Children’s Theatre

2nd place: Anna Colson, St. James School;

3rd place: Griffin Simmons, Albertville City Schools;

Honorable Mention: Tristen Grissett, Pell City Schools