Texas Thespians Festival

Theater+Convention

Thespians from all parts of Texas travel to Dallas for the annual ITS Convention on December 1st through 3rd which was operated at the Omni and Convention Center. Lakeview Centennial Troupe 753 took 11 kids to this convention, including me, to participate in a 3 day long event including shows, competitions, college auditions, and workshops. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, which was really nice aside from the fact that they didn’t provide free wifi or have complimentary breakfast, in downtown Dallas.

On the first day of convention we were late getting to the first workshops, so junior Mandana Burton and I went and grabbed lunch from the food court (where one small sandwich costing $9 did not make my bank account happy). The troupe got together to go and watch the mainstage show Cabaret put on by Temple High School which was so amazing and intense. After, we went to a workshop that taught us how to write plays. We went to eat (or at least try to eat) dinner and then went back to the hotel where senior Brianna Padgett joined us and went to the roof and hung out at the hot tub with kids from other schools.

On Friday, we got up and went straight to our first workshop, The Beyonce Challenge, which was a dance course to learn moves for ‘Sorry’ by Beyonce. Jaelene Luper, Camille Johnson, and I along with about 40 other students all got in rows as the instructor showed us the moves. After this hour of dancing, we were all exhausted and it was on to another mainstage show, so the 4 of us made our way to the theater to see Heathers 101 performed by JJ Pearce which left the entire theater jumping on their feet and screaming during curtain call. Next on my schedule was another dance class to learn the moves to ‘My Shot’ from the famous broadway production ‘Hamilton’ by Lin-Manuel Miranda. We then went off to dinner and Johnson and I tried (and failed) to do Ms. Castle’s homework assignments and went to sleep when we got back to the hotel.

Sadly, the last day of convention was upon us so we packed up our stuff and went to the Omni for one last day of fun before returning to reality. Johnson and I started the day with going to an improv class just to broaden our horizon and it ended up being a lot of fun and a chance to meet new people. Johnson and I went to the Omni bar and grill for lunch before heading up to the closing ceremony. We sat with our troupe and clapped for all the winners of competitions and said goodbye to our newly made friends. Back on the bus we went all the way back to Garland where we went our separate ways home.

It was the most incredible weekend, even through all the stress of the holidays and finals coming up, there was a weekend escape that we could all enjoy.