St. Charles Community College's Young People's Theatre took home three awards at the Arts for Life Best Performance Awards. YPT received awards for Best Youth Musical Production for “Fiddler on the Roof,” Music Direction - Youth Musical Production for Sean Bippen and Suzanne Salmo and Set Design - Youth Musical Production for Brisby Andrews.
In total, YPT was nominated for 11 categories: Best Youth Musical Production; Direction for Brisby Andrews; Musical Direction for Sean Bippen and Suzanne Salmo; Choreography for Brisby Andrews, Sharon Bax, Sydney Koehler and Curtis Waligurski, Set Design for Brisby Andrews; Lighting for Brisby Andrews; Lead Actress for Rachel Weidig who played Golde in “Fiddler on the Roof;” Lead Actor for Andrew Feigenbaum, who played Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof;” Supporting Actress for Alli MacDonald, who played Miss Shields in “A Christmas Story: The Musical” and Grace Kotraba who played Yente in “Fiddler on the Roof;” and Supporting Actor for Braden Stille who played Jean Shepherd in “A Christmas Story: The Musical.”
Zachary Cary, a 10-year member of YPT, was presented with one of the two AFL sponsored scholarships. The scholarships were awarded to St. Louis metro area students to use toward furthering their education in theatrical arts. Zachary has performed in more than 40 productions across the St. Louis area and plans to attend Millikin University this fall.
The AFL Best Performance Awards is an event to recognize the talent in St. Louis community theater and to honor the passion and dedication of those who build the theatrical community.
This is the third time YPT has achieved the honor of Best Youth Musical Production, having also won for Oliver in 2012 and Shrek in 2015, along with several other individual awards for members of the cast.
Arts for Life is a St. Louis-based non-profit arts and service organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating community and youth theater. Young People's Theatre is considered along with many other acting groups and productions from around the metropolitan St. Louis area for these awards.
“We are very proud of Young People's Theatre, our director Brisby Andrews, our amazing young actors and actresses and the parents who make these productions possible,” said Tina Sieker, SCC associate dean of continuing education.
For more information about Young People's Theatre and upcoming performances, contact Brisby Andrews at bandrews@stchas.edu or 636-922-8233.
St. Charles Community College is a public, comprehensive two-year community college with associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, business, sciences and career-technical fields. SCC provides workforce training and community-based personal and professional development as well as cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu.