Saint Andrew's Students Shine at Florida Thespians State Festival

Eleven Upper School students traveled to the Florida Thespians State Festival in Tampa from March 13-16, accompanied by troupe director Dr. Mandy Albert and trip co-leader Mr. Andrew Cohen. 

The students participated in four action-packed, fun-filled days of performances, workshops, and events. Students had the opportunity to work with professional acting and voice coaches, study directing and text interpretation fundamentals with theatre professors, learn ensemble dances from Broadway dance captains, try their hands at special effects makeup, meet and mingle with theatre students from across the state, and visit with representatives from college theatre programs.

Saint Andrew's students continued the proud tradition of getting either Superior or Excellent ratings in every one of their adjudicated performance events. Miyu Fujimoto '24, Sophia Gisonda '24, Anish Ramdin '24, Gwyneth Goldstein '25, and Malika Mckeith-Wellington '25 all earned Excellent ratings for their Solo Musicals; Alessandra Roberts '24, Gwyneth Goldstein '25, and Jordan Jaffe '27 earned an Excellent for their Group Acting scene; and Alessandra Roberts also earned a Superior for her Playwriting. Alessandra now qualifies for the International Thespian Festival in Bloomington, Indiana.

Dr. Albert and Mr. Cohen noted how incredibly proud they were of SA's Thespian students for their support and encouragement of one another and students from other troupes throughout the Festival. "They acted as outstanding ambassadors both of their art and Saint Andrew's School," said Dr. Albert. 

The students who participated in the trip were Zackary Depalmer '24, Miyu Fujimoto '24, Sophia Gisonda '24, Gwyneth Goldstein '25, Aidan Grubman '24, Jordan Jaffe '27, Skyler Lipman '27, Malika Mckeith-Wellington '25, Anish Ramdin '24, Alessandra Roberts '24, and Andrew Zhao '25. Go Scots!