Valley Schools Take Best-of-Bard Honors

Just a few weeks after they swept two Southern California Shakespeare festivals, students from several San Fernando Valley schools were honored at a special best-of-the-Bard showcase in Hollywood on Monday night.

The occasion was the California Youth Theatre’s “Salute to the Winners,” an annual evening spotlighting the work of middle and high school students who finished first in two competitions held last month in Palos Verdes and Littlerock.

Nearly 2,000 students from about 60 Southland schools participated in the two festivals sponsored by the Drama Teachers Assn. of Southern California, said Jacqueline C. Young, vice president of the association.

Porter Middle School in Granada Hills was the Valley’s big winner with four first-place awards--one each in costume design and monologue and two in group performances.

On Monday, the top finishers performed their winning work at Paramount Studios in front of about 500 people, an audience that included their peers, their parents and industry professionals.

“It was exciting,” said Greg Frankel of Woodland Hills’ Hale Middle School, who performed a scene from the Broadway production “I Hate Hamlet” in the modern play category. In addition to the modern play first-place for “I Hate Hamlet,” Hale also won a first-place costume design award.

Young, who also serves as Hale’s drama teacher, said the showcase is not only a well-deserved tribute to the talents of her students but a chance for educators to learn as well.

Other Valley-area first-place winners included Pacoima Middle School, which won for a scene from “Henry V”; El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, which won a group award for a scene from “Much Ado About Nothing”; and Chatsworth High School, which won a costume design award.

Antelope Valley’s Littlerock High School captured a first-place monologue award for a scene from “Much Ado About Nothing.”