Park City High School’s theater stars compete at state competition

Naomi O’Connor and Dilana Kermizis with their state championship metals. Photo: Krischelle Hansen

PARK CITY, Utah — On Saturday, three Park City High School theater students competed in the 4A State Festival at Mountain Crest High School in Logan, Utah. Abigail Bailey, Dilana Kermizis and Naomi O’Connor secured their state competition spots at the USHAA Theater Region Drama Competition, which was held March 21-22.

The two-day region drama event kicked off with the region one act competition, where Park City’s Theater Three class, led by theater teacher Krischelle Hansen, competed with a piece they had been preparing in class. The following day was dedicated to individual events (IE), offering students the chance to demonstrate their skills in monologues, scenes, or musical pieces.

For the state competition, Kermizis metaled in dramatic monologues, while O’Connor metaled with a musical theater piece.

Hansen highlighted the comprehensive judging process for the competition: “In each classroom, there can be from six to eight students that are all performing for one judge. Students will compete in three different rounds for three different judges. And at the end, there’s an award round. So what happens is they will take the top scores and they will put them in one more room with three judges. So those who qualify for the awards round will perform a fourth round.”

Hansen expressed immense pride in her students’ dedication and enthusiasm for theater, “I’m just really proud that this year I’ve had more students compete than I’ve had in a long time. It’s just really nice and refreshing to have students that are so excited to do theater.”