April 21 was a magical evening for Katy ISD high school actors at the seventh annual Tommy Tune Awards Ceremony. It was a night to shine, particularly for Seven Lakes High School. The theater students won four awards, Best Musical Direction, Best Orchestra, Best Crew & Technical Execution and Best Ensemble/Chorus, for excellence in musical theater at the red carpeted Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

Teachers and students got word just a month earlier that their production of Once Upon A Mattress garnered 12 nominations out of 15 categories. Nominations were also given to two other Katy ISD school productions. Taylor High ’s Cinderella received three, and one nomination went to Wizard of Oz by Morton Ranch High School.

Competition was stiff among the 45 public and private Houston high schools that vie for the coveted nominations. A panel of three qualified theater professionals attend, view and evaluate the musical productions. Points are then given according to guidelines.  

Charles Landgrebe, Seven Lakes High School’s theater director, said one of the keys to their success was that they were very careful to find and choose a show to fit the talents of their actors and technicians .

“I was astounded that we received so many nominations. The four awards were a testament to the excellence in music and team work that we value so much. ”

The prestigious Tommy Tune Awards, sponsored by Theatre Under The Stars,  recognize and reward excellence in the production of musical theater by high school students and their teachers in the greater Houston metropolitan area.  

The awards are named in honor of Tommy Tune, who is a nine-time winner of the Tony Award, Broadways ’ highest honor for outstanding work, and who is also a graduate of Lamar High School in Houston.

Julia Rucker, a Seven Lakes senior nominated this year for Best Leading Actress, and Best Lead Actor nominee Remington Stanberry were asked separately how they reacted when they heard about their nominations. Both leading actors said they went crazy with excitement, jumping and screaming in the hallway.

“My first official performance was with the Humphrey School at TUTS when I was 5 singing There’s No Business Like Show Business. Performing is what I love to do above everything else. My life on the stage has only just begun, ” said Julia who intends to major in musical theater.

Joshua Heerssen, theater arts assistant and technical director for Seven Lakes High School, is only in his second year of teaching but is amazed, he said, by what his students can accomplish when they put the heart and soul into it.  

The set took more than four months to complete and contained over 1,000 styrofoam bricks that created the stone look of a castle. His crew had a full week of technical rehearsals, “dry tech,” in which they practiced moving the set on and off stage in a seamless and quiet way. Professional theater companies usually get one day of practice, but the Seven Lakes crew had the daunting job of moving a two-story, 28-foot castle.    

“It was the first time in my teaching and professional theater career that I even heard an audience applaud a scene change. Nothing is as powerful as your imagination, and the students use it every day in my theater. And it shows. ”l

Katy ISD Tommy Tune nominations:

Seven Lakes High School,

Once Upon A Mattress:

 Best Musical  

 Best Direction

*Best Musical Direction

*Best Orchestra

 Best Scenic Design

 Best Costume Design

 Best Lighting Design

*Best Crew & Technical Execution

*Best Ensemble/Chorus

 Best Leading Actor - Remington Stanberry (Prince Dauntless)

 Best Leading Actress - Julia Rucker (Princess Winnifred)

 Best Supporting Actor - Brett Donaldson (King Sextimus)

*Tommy Tune Award

Taylor High School, Cinderella

 Best Orchestra

 Best Leading Actress - Laura Smolik (Cinderella)

 Best Supporting Actress - Randi Garza (Fairy Godmother)

Morton Ranch High School,

Wizard of Oz

 Best Orchestra