Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
South High’s Daniel Cormie won Best Actor and Glens Falls High School’s Sofia Rice won Best Supporting Actress at the 8th annual Capital Region High School Musical Theatre Awards, Saturday night at Proctors in Schenectady.
Glens Falls High School’s production of Little Women — in which Sofia performed — won Best Musical and Best Technical Execution in the awards’ Tier A, based on the show’s budget.
•
Daniel Cormie won for his role as William Shakespeare, reimagined as a hip-swiveling rock idol, in the musical Something’s Rotten.
In his emotional acceptance speech, to the packed house, he shared, “I am very honored to receive this award; however, there is so much more to life than a trophy.” Two weeks ago, his father, also Dan, suffered a major heart attack. He is still hospitalized. Daniel said, “Nothing in the world mattered more than my dad getting better” and “I’ll leave you with something my dad always taught me: Being kind and loving is how you win life.”
Colonie High School’s production of The Wizard of Oz won Best Musical in Tier B.
South Glens Falls performed an excerpt from Something Rotten, nominated for Best Musical in Tier B. It did not win the award but it won the night with a frenetically clever production number about musical theater itself. The roaring applause they drew shook Proctors’ chandeliers, maybe even the entire downtown Schenectady neighborhood.
Daniel Cormie and Best Actress Abby DeGregory of Saratoga High School (Pamela in Head Over Heels: High School Edition) go on to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards contest — aka The Jimmies — on Broadway in New York City.
That’s huge. Huger still, the high energy, all-out celebration of student theater in general on the Main Stage at Proctors.
At its best, it’s less about the awards or even your own school pride than an emotionally overwhelming celebration of the power of theater and the prowess of these young people.
The night opened and closed with production numbers showcasing students from all 19 participating regional schools (including Queensbury, Lake George, Fort Ann and Whitehall), the Best Musical nominees, and 10 best actor/actress nominees — including Eva Reece of South Glens Falls and Sophia Plante and Shane LaBounty of Glens Falls.
