Footloose Wins Six Cappies
Stone Bridge Running Dogs Productions outranked fourteen high schools at the 2023 Blue Ridge Cappies, a local theater award non-profit, taking home six different awards in their respective categories. The event was held at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas on May 23.
Stone Bridge’s production of the musical Footloose was nominated for 20 awards and won in the categories of “Best Song,” “Lead Actor in a Female Role in a Musical”, “Supporting Actor in a Female Role in a Musical,” Stage Management,” “Lighting,” and “Choreography.”
“Comical, engaging and unexpectedly moving, each element of the performance came together for a final product that exhibited the talent of the theater team and made for a show that was totally tubular!” Lightridge High School Cappie critic Andawen Sauder said in her review.
Rehearsal for Footloose began February 11 and continued up until its opening night on April 27. Cast and crew spent hours daily coming in and putting together this musical.
“I enjoyed being able to get to know the people better and being there with them all the time,” sophomore Abby White, winner for Choreography, said.
Running Dogs’ cast and crew worked diligently for months and came together for a spectacular performance that was praised by diverse audiences, including the panel of Cappies judges who attended the 7:00 p.m. show on April 29. Cast members spent hours a day rehearsing for all their performances while backstage crew members put in the work to create entire sets, costumes, props, and choreography in order to put together the show.
“What I enjoyed most was overall getting to see the culmination of 10 months of working on something, come together and us being able to really succeed,” sophomore Jerry Wang said. “Just finally hitting that peak that we have been looking forward to this entire year.”
Comical, engaging and unexpectedly moving, each element of the performance came together for a final product that exhibited the talent of the theater team and made for a show that was totally tubular! — Andawan Sauder
The showstopper performance for the Cappies was made possible by the theater students’ commitment and hard work.
“I felt very accomplished winning the award because it was one of my goals throughout this whole year to win a Cappie and I did it,” sophomore Emma Kleinheins said.
All work was paid off when members of the theater department were awarded and celebrated for all the effort they put in this year.
“I would like to tell our winners that their hard work is apparent and there are so many people, not just in the Theatre community, but in our entire community, that now know how great and special they are,” Theater director Ms. Caroline Mark said.
