Jordan District high school students competed in the 50th annual Utah Shakespeare Festival competition held at Southern Utah University, according to a report published October 6. The event, which is the largest scholastic Shakespeare competition in North America, featured students from across the country participating in acting, dance, music, and technical theater events.
Riverton high school finished second overall in the Buckingham Division sweepstakes for the largest schools and earned placements in the top 10 for all submitted acting and dance scenes. In the music sweepstakes, Herriman high school finished in second place overall. Additionally, students from Mountain Ridge and Riverton high schools achieved several first-place finishes in the Tech Olympic categories, which highlight behind-the-scenes work in areas such as lighting, sound, scenery, make-up, and costumes.
Specific award winners included Mountain Ridge's Araceli Ibarra for makeup and Karissa Bailey for lighting, while Riverton's Adin Nielsen, Layla Anderson, and Landon Wells placed first in construction, costumes, and rigging, respectively. In acting and dance, Riverton's Carlos Boscan and Brock Harris placed third and fourth in monologue categories, while Trenton Lundberg, Cade Huizingh, and Colin Haslam placed third in the scene category. The Riverton dance ensemble was selected to perform at the Judge's Dance Showcase.
Herriman high school also saw success in music, placing second in the Troubadour and Minstrel categories, third in the Canzonetta category, and first in the Madrigal category.
Mountain Ridge high school placed third overall in the Tech Olympics. The competition included various categories designed to encourage student exploration of Renaissance music and theater arts.
