Iola’s theatre and forensics community gathered to celebrate the best and brightest of all ages at the 59th Annual Little Oscars ceremony Friday evening at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Students offered a delightful variety of song and dance numbers between awards. The school presented two plays this past year, “Willy Wonka Jr.,” a musical, in the fall and “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” in the spring.
Senior Brigham Folk, president of the Players & Thespian Club, won the night’s biggest awards and the most hardware. He took home three Little Oscars, including Best Actor.
A special award was given to Molly Riebel for her behind-the-scenes work, with IHS theatre instructor Regina Chriestenson noting how Riebel typically tries to avoid the spotlight. Members of the Iola Community Theatre troupe also gave Riebel a special award for her contributions to their group.
Several middle school students also received an honorary Little Oscar for their work as Oompa Loompas in “Willy Wonka Jr.”
Amongst the celebrations, though, came a scattering of reminders that the stage is ever-evolving.
The ICT group paid an emotional tribute to longtime volunteer and costume director Margaret Robb, who died April 4.
Chriestenson recognized incoming and outgoing Theaspian club members, then presented retiring English teacher Virginia Crane with a special award as Honoray Member of Troupe No. 8952 for the International Thespian Society.
Longtime director Richard Spencer discussed choosing “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” as his swan song. It was the first play he directed for IHS in 2009. Spencer said he chose the play to ease the theatre department toward musicals, which are now a regular feature. It seemed only fitting to direct the play — without songs — for what is likely his final performance, as he has moved. He’ll continue to work with IHS forensics students. Spencer also talked about being part of the first Little Oscars ceremony as a student.
“My vision of the play had changed. I charged the cast with the task of becoming one person. Nine people, acting together and separate. They were storytellers,” Spencer said. “These actors managed to capture the vision as if they were actors far beyond their years. I’m not leaving, I’m just giving up one part. Probably.”
Hannah Andersen and Macie Hoag returned to host this year’s Little Oscars.
A LIST of awards follow:
Iola Community Theatre: Molly Riebel
Female Rookie of the Year: Bella Rahming
Male Rookie of the Year: Donovan Nee
Underclass Woman of the Year: Lainey Oswald
