PCHS Theater students channel ‘the Bard’ at Utah Shakespeare Festival

PCHS thesbians performing at the Utah Shakespeare Festival Photo: Krishell Hansen

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Students in the Theater program at the Park City High School (PCHS) competed in the 2022 Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF). 

PCHS Theater Teacher, Krischelle Hansen, told TownLift, “No one placed, but students had fun and were able to talk with performers and directors from the Shakespeare Festival. They also took wonderful critiques from adjudicators, and found things that they wanted to improve in their own acting techniques.”

They performed King Lear in 10 minutes as their ensemble piece.

James O’Reilly also presented Two Gentleman of Verona, with Kenneth Butz  as Macbeth and Thomas Glasmann as Julius Cesar. They performed monologues in individual events; they’re all in the 12th grade.

Sophomores Ryan Bryce and Elizabeth Moldovan also performed a scene from As You Like It in individual events.

The mostly senior group of Zachary Aldous (Sound), Ewan DeRosier (Carpentry), Simone Ganyard (Makeup), E Romero Garcia (Stage Management), Emma Bechtold (Properties), Kate Rooney (Costume and Lighting), and Kevin Sedgwick (Rigging) participated in the Tech Olympics.

Full 2022 PCHS Team competing at USF (grade)

• Amelia Abbett (10)
• Lilian Abbett (12)
• Hugh Arbabi (11)
• Charlotte Bargowski (10)
• Zachary Eggleton (12)
• Clarissa Fleming (10)
• Olivia Goldberg (10)
• Jade Munoa (11)
• Gabriella Olson (11)
• Katie Olson (10)
• Erin Rodriguez-Salas (12)
• Lila Stein (11)
• Sabine Zarrella-deRosier (10)

Bari Nan Rothchild’s son, Lance, graduated two years ago from PCHS where he was intricately involved in the Theater Department on the Eccles Center of Performing Arts stage and made the annual school trip to the USF. Few people have spend more time around the Park City Institute than Bari Nan. She told TownLift, “Park City High Theater competing at the Utah Shakespeare Festival is a tremendous opportunity for these students. For kids like my son, who was active in theater his whole life, it was a chance to perform and receive notes and coaching in a professional environment.” 

Lance’s PCHS sophomore year he presented Shrek; his junior year, Macbeth, and his senior he starred in Hamlet in Park City and at the USF. He’s currently matriculating at a University in Boston where he plays piano, guitar, percussion, and sings both on campus and off.

Competing at the USF not only gives students the opportunity to improve their performance, but they learn a lot about teamwork, problem solving, and risk-taking.