Five West Limestone students compete at state Trumbauer competition
Briley Wise, Benton Moore, Trevor Ingle, Annsleigh Woodard, and Beleniel Checa of West Limestone competed at the annual state Walter Trumbauer High School Theatre Festival competition in early December. Wise earned a superior score and came in third in the state.
“Performing at state was really a brand new experience for me. I’m glad I could be able to take my talents to the highest level,” Wise said. “I performed Mary Warren’s monologue from Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible.’”
To Wise, competing at the state competition meant they “worked so hard and hard enough to the point where my work has paid off. I’m extremely proud of myself.”
Wise went on to say, “I was nervous, but excited. I’ve really never done anything like this before. I highly recommend theatre. It’s so fun and gives you new opportunities. You never know you like it ‘til you try it.”
Checa and Moore also earned superior scores at the competition.
“I performed my own original piece entitled ‘Grinch and Thanksgiving.’ It means a lot to earn a superior at both District and State. Even though I didn’t place, I know that I have worked hard and did my best,” Moore said.
Checa reflected the sentiments of Moore and Wise.
“Participating felt odd, but not in a bad way, more of in a ‘I can’t believe I’m actually doing this’ way,” Checa said. “I performed my variation on the piece ‘Too Old for This, Too Young for That.’ Earning that superior made me question if there was a mistake or not because it didn’t really feel like I earned it at first.”
Checa went on to say, “so moving forward I set a goal to work even harder so that my first performance looked like a joke in comparison. I feel like representing our school at the state level was a really big honor that I am proud of.”
There’s no lack of pride for these students at West Limestone.
“They worked very hard, meeting at the Band Room on Saturday mornings as well as after school,” Director of Bands Davin Kyle said. “He [Coach Vincent Chiriaco] really poured his heart and soul into our students and brought out talents they didn’t realize they had.”
Kyle went on to say, “as the Director of Bands, I already knew we had tons of talent at West Limestone, but getting to tag along with Coach C and these amazing students as they pursue and excel in a different form of talent, has truly been a blessing.”
Before the state competition, students participated in the district competition.
“At District Benton Moore, Briley Wise, Trevor Ingle, Annsleigh Woodard, Belenial Checa, and Drew Everett all earned superior (highest) Ratings, with Stormi Stringfield, Wesley Dean, and Caiden Woodard earning ratings of excellent. The students put in the work and it definitely showed,” Chiriaco said. “State took place at Troy University. The competition was fierce with performers traveling for the Shoals, Bob Jones, Hoover, etc. But West still managed to walk away with 3 superior ratings, and 2 excellent ratings. One of our students, Briley Wise, even placed third in the state in her category.”
“I was very proud of our students for their performances at both the District and State Level,” Chiriaco said. “I am super proud of these aspiring artists and could not ask for a better first year of coaching Theatre at West Limestone.”
The students had a village behind them at West Limestone.
“I’d like to commend Coach Chiriaco for his talent and dedication to our students! I’d also like to thank Mrs. Bonner, and Mrs. Francis for all of their help, as well as Mrs. Morris and all of our English Faculty for inspiring two of our students’ performance choices through her English/Lit class, and finally our administration for allowing us to have club days and supporting the Arts,” Kyle said.