Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble Features Performers from Six Area High Schools
Student performers from six Wausau area high schools participating in the Tommy Awards program will be featured in The Grand Theater’s inaugural Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble.
The Tommy Awards were created by the Overture Center in Madison to encourage, recognize and honor excellence in high school musical theater across the state of Wisconsin. Last year, there were ten area high schools and theatre organizations that participated in the program. The Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble, the premier performance group representing the program, is open to students from all of those participating schools and organizations (including the Central Wisconsin Educational Theatre Alliance).
Auditions for the Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble were held during the first week of October, and drew high school performers from everywhere from Stevens Point to Eagle River. The 2017-18 Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble features students from Wausau East, D.C. Everest, Merrill, Marshfield, Stevens Point Area, and Northland Pines High Schools. The full roster is listed below.
The group will spend the rest of the year rehearsing twice a month at the Wausau Conservatory of Music under the direction of Marshall DeLonay. Not only will the students will work on their individual singing, acting, and dancing skills, but they’ll also have the unique opportunity to rehearse, perform, and socialize with students from different schools.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of the very first Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble,” said SPASH Junior Lydia Rae Ensminger. “During my time with the Tommy Ensemble, I am hoping to grow in my skills as a performer and build relationships with the other wonderful members, whom I am extremely excited to work with. I am so excited to be able to perform with such an amazing group of people.”
The ensemble will begin rehearsing next week, and will begin performing shortly thereafter. The group will perform at the 2018 Tommy Awards and the Overture Center’s Tommy Ensemble Cabaret in Madison, but audiences can also see them closer to home.
“We’re looking forward to providing some really exciting performance opportunities for the ensemble,” said Katy Lang, Director of Education and Community Engagement at The Grand. “We’ll definitely have them perform at plenty of events here at The Grand, but we’re also on the lookout for some unique and unconventional ways to show off these performers’ talents and advocate for musical theatre in the area.”
Click here for more information on the Tommy Awards and Tommy Performance Ensemble.
2017-18 Central Wisconsin Tommy Ensemble
Abe Akey – Junior at Merrill High School*
Lydia Rae Ensminger – Junior at Stevens Point Area High School
Zach Iniguez – Junior at Marshfield High School
Bailey Iwen – Junior at Merrill High School*
Malcolm McCanles – Junior at Northland Pines High School
Tyler Meyer – Senior at Marshfield High School
Tyler Nanstad – Senior at Marshfield High School
Miriam Peters – Junior at D.C. Everest Senior High School
Meegahn Roesler – Junior at Wausau East High School
Colin Smith – Senior at Wausau East High School
Lindsey Smith – Sophomore at Wausau East High School
Theresa Yonash – Senior at Stevens Point Area High School
