Awesome Actors

Coming off the big success of the school's first live streamed major performance, "12 INCOMPETENT JURORS" in early December, the Jesuit Masque took home numerous high honors during the Christmas break in the Florida Thespians Southwest Regional Festival.

Jesuit's thespians, under the direction of Richard Miller and competing as Troupe 8059, brought home Superior (five) or Excellent (seven) ratings in all 12 events, marking the second straight year Jesuit has earned Excellent ratings or better in all performances at the Regional Festival. 

To top it off, two performances earned Top Honors as the best in the Region. In Ensemble Acting, the trio of Nicholas Asher '21, Jimmy Grammig '21, and Joseph Lopez '21 received Top Honors for their scene from "The Frogs" by Aristophanes. In Duet Acting, Tyler Brownrigg '21 and Nico Smyth '21 earned Top Honors for their scene from "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead" by Tom Stoppard.

It marked the third year in a row Jesuit earned at least one Top Honors, and the second straight with multiple Top Honors.

Jesuit earned three additional Superior ratings, the first in Ensemble Acting by Brownrigg, Colin Creadon '23, Grant Jurusz '22, Matthew Justin '22, and Aaron Norris '22 for their scene from "The Banderscott" by Pete Barry; and two more Superiors in Duet Acting, by Creadon and Jurusz for their scene from "The Old Boy" by A.R. Gurney, and Justin and Lopez for their scene from "Extraction" by Jules Tasca.

In addition, Grammig became just the second Jesuit Thespian to qualify for the State Festival in all four years of high school.

Due to COVID-19, the Regional Festival was entirely virtual. All events – from monologues to mainstage plays – were submitted as video recordings to a secure platform for which participants received login credentials that worked for a specific block of dates. The modified rules allowed for students to wear masks and/or maintain additional distancing, and (if necessary) to record parts remotely and edit them together.

The State Festival will take place March 17-21, and it also will be done entirely virtual. This year, those who received Excellent ratings also qualified for State, not just those who earned a Superior rating, so all Jesuit performances from the Regional qualified for State.

Earning Excellent ratings at the Regional Festival:

• Asher and Grammig (Duet Acting: You Can’t Beat the House by Pat Cook)
• John Paul Llanos '22 (Solo Musical: “Confrontation” from Jekyll and Hyde)
• Lopez (Play Writing: Cross-Checking)
• Brownrigg (Monologues: The Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov/Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies)
• Jurusz (Monologues: Dracula by Steven Dietz/Noises Off by Michael Frayn)
• Smyth (Monologues: Thirst by Eugene O’Neill/The Nerd by Larry Shue)
• Justin (Monologues: Homeland Security by Ethan Coen/The End of the Day by Jon Robin Baitz)

Homepage photo: pictured L-R are Norris, Creadon, Justin, Jurusz, Brownrigg, and Lopez.