On Sept. 12, 1866, the first musical that implemented dance and original music premiered in New York. Nearly 160 years later, on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, members of the drama club traveled to West Chester University (WCU) in southeast Pennsylvania for the three-day 2024-2025 Pennsylvania Thesfest conference. With its 1800s architectural style, the WCU campus allowed students to explore the beginning and future of theater in an environment commemorating the birth of musical stage performance.

“My favorite moment was just meeting everyone,” senior Thespian Jillian Pierannunzio said. “It was such a cool experience to be around everyone who loves theater as much as you do. It was a very welcoming environment, and I made so many friends. Definitely my favorite thing was the workshops because then I got to be with other people that weren’t from our school, and [I] really got to build friendships and meet new people. I only had one workshop with another person from Altoona. For the other two [workshops], I had to find people [to connect with] and hope for the best.”

Pierannunzio focused on staging, directing and blocking scenes on the first day of the conference. On the second day, she participated in an intimacy workshop and an improvisation competition with senior Olivia Behe where judges gave them two impromptu words, and they had to come up with a skit on the spot.

“Our two words the first time were ‘breakfast’ and ‘sardine,’ or something like canned fish,” Pierannunzio said. “We made up that we were two chefs, and we had to prepare this food for these rich people, but we were poor, and we had to pay for our own food. Our second scene, our words were ‘sweetheart’ and ‘movies’, and we made [up] that it was our anniversary. We wanted to go out. We were trying to decide what we would be willing to go and see. I wanted to go and see a horror movie, and she wanted to go and see a romantic movie. At the end, I ended up proposing.”

Behe and Pierannunzio placed third with their improv skit out of 33 teams total. This success means a lot to Pierannunzio, who is hoping to study theater arts with a focus on directing after graduating.

“We were not expecting [third place] at all,” Pierannunzio said. “Later on that day they announced who third, second and first place were, and we were just really grateful and excited that we got to be the first people at our school to place in any competition at the conference.”

In addition to the improv skit, students were able to participate in a wide range of activities and workshops at the conference. 

“Each building [on campus] had different activities, and these included design challenges for set construction, light design, makeup and costume design,” sophomore Thespian Gregory Wenzel said. “In between each of these events at these buildings, there were shows. We watched a lot of shows. I probably watched 12 shows. So it was a lot of theater-related stuff, but it was very fun. We also met a lot of new people.”

While at the conference, three Thespian students won certificates of theater excellence for AAHS: junior Owen Carmel and seniors Laura Reed and Carmen Stevanus.

Carmel focused on workshops about expression of emotions through body movement and how to project and develop better tone quality while singing. Drama club advisers Ben Cossitor and Michele Dugan picked people to nominate for the certificates, and Carmel won for acting and costume design.

“I was very happy about [winning],” Carmel said. “I didn’t expect it, and it was humbling because I haven’t been doing theater for very long, so it was nice to know that I’ve made an impact on our school. It was really nice to be up there and represent Altoona. It was a very proud moment. I love what I do with theater, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can do in the future.”

Stevanus earned a certificate for the crew category. The senior has been involved in drama since freshman year and helps to design the set as well on stage crew.

“I honestly just like seeing the other schools’ productions,” Stevanus said. “It’s nice to see what work they put in, and see how they take on different plays.”

Wenzel is going to be an integral part of the planning for the next Thesfest. He was elected to the State Thespian Board as a State Thespian Officer (STO) at the conference.

“I was so nervous because I didn’t think I did well, but then they announced my name, and I was shocked,” Wenzel said. “I was really happy. I got up, and I was like, ‘This is not true. This is not, this is not real.’ But it was, and it was great. It was amazing.”

To be chosen as an STO, Wenzel had to present in front of people in the STO workshops.

“You had to apply to get into the workshops. In those workshops, there was a group of people watching you, randomly selected people. Basically they would watch you present, and they would listen to how you would solve problems,” Wenzel said. “They would vote on who they thought were the best fits.”

As a STO, Wenzel will help with planning the next Thesfest conference, social media advertising and event planning across the state.

“I really hope to not only be a STO, to just do what that entails,” Wenzel said. “I want to use my ability with this to help spread theater, because I think theater is very important. It’s very important to socialize. It’s very important for people to express themselves. I’m hoping with this, I can not only spread it for the people who already know about it, but also help advertise things and try to get more people involved.”