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Texas Thespian State Festival

Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas
November 15-18, 2023

Each year, the Denton High School Theatre Department attends the Texas Thespian State Thespian Festival, also known as TTSF.

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The Texas Thespian State Festival is THE largest theatre festival in the world, with over 8,000 delegates representing their troupes. 

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Our department attends annually to expose our students to a myriad of plays, workshops, and competitions.

The Festival offers:

  • Hundreds of Workshops, in area such as: Acting, Technical Theatre, Design, Dance, Make-Up, Accents, Puppetry, Musical Theatre, and Various More!

  • Main Stage Performances

  • College Auditions

  • Individual Event Competitions in both Performance and Design 

  • The ability to compete at the state level  and advance to national competitions. 

  • The Tech Challenge

  • Nationally Acclaimed Guest Speakers

  • All Convention Events

  • Late Night Events (Dances)

  • Theatre Vendors with Appearal, Jewelry, Gadgets, Posters, Scripts, and more!

  • Opportunities to advance to the International Thespian Society National Festival Opens a New Window.

  • Opportunities to meet other Thespians from all over our great state who share your passion for Theatre!

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Cost will be approximately $450, and this could change slightly depending upon how many students register to go, and how many hotel rooms we need to book. We try to arrange for fundraising opportunities to lower the average cost for everyone each year. This registration will include a festival T-Shirt, 4 days at festival, 3 days of workshops and short plays, 4 main stage shows, 2 sit-down dinners, and 3 nights in a hotel.

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All Individual event competitions and tech competitions cost $15, and can be registered for on an individual basis.

 

Breakfast and lunch is on your own, and you will need approximately $20 a day to cover this. 

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2019 State Awards

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In 2019, we had 8 students advance to The International Thespian Festival in 7 Individual Events! 

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  • Ashley Lee- (Marketing for Cinderella)**

  • *Quinlyn Martin- (Stage Management for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

  • *Angelina Gonzalez- (Musical Solo from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

  • *Noah Waddell- (Musical Solo from Young Frankenstein)

  • *Roya Farahani- (Musical Solo from A Chorus Line)

  • *Ali Gunn- (Musical Solo from Catch Me if You Can)

  • *Cyrus Carrillo and Caroline Pluscht- (Duet Musical from Company)

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* Have advanced to the national level 2 years in a row.

** Received a Perfect Score

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Our Tech Challenge team is Second in the State! These 7 students beat out 95 other teams in the state, and are seen as the quickest and most efficient technical students in the state of Texas! Members Include: 

 

Grey Harris (Captain), Quinlyn Martin, Sophia Kim, Roya Farahani, Kaiah Bush, Adrian Gutierrez, and Taylor Brokenbek. 

 

Troupe 5358 also received the Texas Thespian Festival All Star Troupe Display 2019.  

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2018 State Awards

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This year, we had 9 students advance to The International Thespian Festival in 7 Individual Events! 

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  • *Calista Martin; Costume Construction

  • Hanna Word and Angelina Gonzalez; Duet Musical

  • *Jackie Taylor and *Jack Kelley; Duet Musical

  • Ali Gunn; Solo Musical

  • Noah Waddell; Solo Musical

  • Roya Ghasemi; Stage Management

  • Quinlyn Martin; Stage Management

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* Have advanced to the national level 2 years in a row.

Our Tech Challenge team are the 2018 State Champions! These 7 students beat out 95 other teams in the state, and are seen as the quickest and most efficient technical students in the state of Texas! Members Include: 

 

Isaac Castillo (Captain), Calista Martin, Sophia Kim, Hanna Word, Roya Ghasemi, Grey Harris, and Quinlyn Martin. 

 

The team had a nearly 100 point difference from the runner-ups, and placed in the top 6 in all 6 events.

 

Click Here for the full results! 

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International Thespian Festival

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

June 19 - 24, 2017

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The International Thespian Festival involves thespian's from all over the world, and exposes thespian's to some of the best theatre performances in the nation.

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The International Festival offers:

  • Hundreds of Workshops, in area such as: Acting, Technical Theatre, Design, Dance, Make-Up, Accents, Puppetry, Musical Theatre, and Various More!

  • Main Stage Performances from some of the best shows and departments in the nation.

  • College Auditions

  • The National Individual Events

  • The Tech Challenge

  • The opportunity to compete at an international competition and make connections with industry experts.

  • Internationally Acclaimed Guest Speakers

  • All Convention Events

  • Late Night Events (Dances)

  • Theatre Vendors with Appearal, Jewelry, Gadgets, Posters, Scripts, and more!

  • Opportunities to meet other Thespians from all over the world who share your passion for theatre.

2017 International Awards

Two of our Duet Acting scenes that advanced from state warm-up before their competition. 

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The scenes included

  • Dorian Carillo and Alex Rodriguez with a piece from Ordinary People

  • Natalie Bennet and Leo Bruno with a piece from Ordinary People

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Both groups performed earned an 'Excellent' rating and were both 1 point short of earning a 'Superior' rating.

After competing in his I.E., then Sophomore Isaac Castillo poses next to his presentation. Isaac also poses with his medal after receiving his scores.

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Isaac Castillo competed with his Lighting Design for our 2017 fall musical 'Godspell'.

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Isaac earned a 'Superior' rating for his design at ITF, ranking him as one of the best high school lighting designers in the nation. He also earned two out of three perfect scores from his judges, as well as earning two college offers from his judges. 

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