A star-studded performance: Local students bring home acting awards from California theater festival

Feb. 26—Sitting at a table inside a Japanese restaurant in Sacramento, California, Coahulla Creek High School senior Morgan Long opened up a fortune cookie and read the prophecy inside.

"Follow your dreams," it read. "Because even if you miss, you'll still be among the stars."

Little did she know that just two hours later the last line of that prophecy would come true as she walked across the stage to receive an All-Star Performer medal during the 2024 Junior Theater Festival (JTF) West.

As part of the festival, held Feb. 9-11, Long was one of 14 local students who made up the Artistic Civic Theatre's ACT2 Seniors team. The group traveled to Sacramento with 16 adults to perform a 15-minute production of "Legally Blonde Junior" at JTF West.

Hosted by iTheatrics, JTF West brings youth theater groups from around the globe together for a weekend of performances, workshops and new production showcases, including students from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Poland and South Korea. JTF also holds a larger event in Atlanta each year, where several local students brought home awards in January.

Bringing home the gold

For their performance, the ACT2 Seniors collectively received a Freddie G Award for Excellence in Acting, while a trio of students won individual awards, including Hammond Creek Middle School seventh-grader Sophie McKeehan, who received an All-Star Performer medal for her performance as "Kate" in the group's production, and Long, who received her medal for her performance as "Paulette Bonafonte."

After receiving their awards, McKeehan and Long took part in a workshop open only to All-Star Performers.

Kinsley Stephens, a junior at Dalton High School who performed the lead role of "Elle Woods," took home a medal for Outstanding Individual Performer.

Stephens, who had performed at a previous JTF event in Texas in 2021, said she wasn't aware of the award going into the California festival.

"After we performed, I didn't really expect much," Stephens said. "Going into a festival like that, there's so much talent from all over. So, when I got it, I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't stop smiling."

Members of the award-winning ensemble included students from a wide range of grade levels, including Hammond Creek sixth-grader Joanna Bethel, Westside Middle School eighth-grader Jenna Beavers, North Whitfield Middle School eighth-grader Cameron Brown, Dalton Junior High School ninth-grader Lottie Skarre, Murray County High School freshman Leah Tello, Coahulla Creek High School freshman Aubree Bradley, Southeast Whitfield High School juniors Carter Greeson and Morgan Dempsey, junior homeschool student Emma Lester and freshman homeschool student Raine Poteet, along with Long, Stephens, McKeehan and her older brother, Dalton High School sophomore Shepherd McKeehan.

"It was a lot of fun and a completely new experience for these students," said Ashlyn Barnett, North Whitfield Middle's theater teacher who directed the 15-minute performance of "Legally Blonde Junior" at the festival. "We really enjoyed our time over there and I felt like it was a place where the kids got to really connect with other students because of its smaller size compared to JTF Atlanta. It was more of an intimate festival and I feel like the kids really got a lot out of it."

A 'beneficial' experience

Sophie McKeehan, who will be auditioning for iTheatrics' summer workshops later this year, said the experience in Sacramento was "exciting."

"It was a privilege to be able to perform in front of so many amazing people," she said. "I would definitely do it again."

When McKeehan found out she had received All-Star recognition, she "couldn't believe it."

"I found out over dinner," she recalled. "We kept waiting and waiting, and then it popped up on the screen and I was like 'Wait, what? Oh my gosh!'"

Her brother Shepherd, who portrayed three roles during the performance, said it was "challenging, but fun."

"For two of my roles, they were back-to-back, so I had to kind of switch from one personality to the other and then back again," he said.

For the 15-minute production, which was choreographed by Elizabeth Holland, some of his roles involved acrobatics, which came natural due to McKeehan being a "second-degree black belt" in martial arts.

"I feel like the festival was beneficial because it helps you learn how to develop your own character a lot faster in a short amount of time," he said.

The McKeehan household is no stranger to JTF awards, with Sophie and Shepherd's younger sister Sadie picking up an All-Star Performer recognition during JTF's Atlanta event last month.

"I think it's extremely worthwhile for these students to be in this compressed competitive environment where they have to do a whole show without props or costumes and exemplify these characters in such a short time frame," said their mother Sheila McKeehan, who traveled with the group and is the Georgia Department of Education's program manager for school counseling and career readiness.

"It was just amazing to watch the work that they do as a spectator and a parent," she said. "I think it speaks to the quality of the programming we have in Dalton, both in our school systems and with the community theater through ACT. The fine arts programs here in Dalton and Whitfield County are really strong."

A validating performance

It was the first time flying on an airplane or visiting California for many of the students, something Stephens said she enjoyed.

"But my favorite part was meeting all the people from across the world," she said. "We befriended them fairly quickly and it was great to see other people care about theater as much as we do."

Stephens said her award-winning performance included a lot of nerves at first.

"All of us were extremely nervous, but we were all just trying to comfort each other," she said. "I was drinking water and I was ready to go, and as soon as I stepped out, my mouth went completely dry. But during the performance, everybody did a fantastic job and I was really proud of what we all had a hand in putting together."

She said receiving the individual award helped to "validate" her hard work.

"In this field, you need that validation sometimes," she said. "There's a lot of doubt. You get so many 'No's' before you get any 'Yes's.' Getting that validation has helped me confirm that this is what I want to do."

Long said playing the role of "Paulette" was fun, because she was "spunky and outgoing, which was completely different from myself in real life."

She said receiving an All-Star Performer medal was the first time she had been honored at that level.

"I was really surprised to get it because our group is full of so many talented people," Long said. "There's not one person that isn't worthy and it was such an honor to be able to be picked."

Coming from a theater family, Long said she was "born into" performing.

"My parents (Ted and Heidi Long) actually met on the stage of Artistic Civic Theatre, so it's really cool to be able to carry that on," she said. "My dad is an actor, director and vocalist, and I've always looked up to him. I don't think I would've even wanted to do something like this if it weren't for him showing me that I could do it."

Long said succeeding with her teammates at the event has been a highlight of her senior year at Coahulla Creek and has even helped give her some assurance on her future goals.

"I actually want to be a special education teacher," she said. "But I am really interested in merging that with theater in some form. I would really love to see more theaters solely for special education."

Working as a team

Jenna Beavers, who performed as a featured dancer in the production, said the "new experience was really fun."

"I was proud that my group got the acting award; it made me feel really nice," Beavers said. "I've been dancing for 10 years but I've been doing acting for maybe three. When dancing, you have to do acting as well. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to do drama, because it can help me with my dancing."

Beavers' mother Tiffany, a gifted coordinator for Whitfield County Schools, traveled to Sacramento with the students.

"They were a small team, but they were impressive," she said. "I enjoyed watching them and the others get to perform. With Jenna dancing for so long, I'm used to seeing the recital version of her versus the acting side, so it was great getting to see her do what she loves."

Capping off the event was a concert by actor and singer Andrew Barth Feldman, who Barnett said was the "biggest celebrity that I've ever seen headline a JTF event."

Feldman also just happened to be one of Stephens' favorite Broadway performers.

"I have been watching him ever since he was in high school," Stephens said.

"I'm a very big fan of his. Every song he puts out and every movie that he does, I'm there to watch it. I won't lie, when I found out he was going to be there, I kind of freaked out and went crazy. It was surreal to see him perform."

Performing in shows with the Artistic Civic Theatre throughout her life, Stephens said receiving the award for Outstanding Individual Performer was a dream come true.

"Getting to go out there and represent ACT, Dalton High School and the Dalton community with all of my friends, it's wonderful," she said.

Barnett said Stephens' recognition marked the first time she has had a student from Dalton receive that particular award.

"It was a feat for these students and they're all involved in other programs in their schools," Barnett said. "They're all in multiple shows locally and to bring them all together and watch them work towards a goal like that as a team, that was really special, especially because most of them had never worked with each other before. I hope that we get to do it again next year."