On February 14-15th, senior Ceci Ward won the State Thespy award. This is one of the most notable awards that you can get at Thescon, which is an annual event held in Columbus, Georgia, aiming to help theatre kids improve their acting and improvisational skills. You get this award by getting through two auditions focused on your musical ability, and only once getting past these two do you have a chance at getting it. Although this isn’t exclusive to one person, we’re still so very proud of her.
Thescon was held February 5-7th and is the world’s largest gathering of Thespians, which is just another, fancier term for actors. The conference showcased over 25 different one-act performances over the three day period, which ranged from Urinetown to The Prince of Egypt. These shows were chosen to perform by the screening committee, which are appointed by the Georgia Thespians organization. This same screening committee also votes for State Thespy in the final audition.
Ward is very passionate about anything related to music. Currently, she is in concert choir, chamber choir, all-state choir, and district choir. She’s also the choir vice president and troupe president. For theater, she has done around 12 musicals in her career and got an award for it at the One Act competition. She also likes to write poetry in her free time, play her guitar, and write musical pieces, both for her guitar and for a larger band audience, unique to her and her personality. “Most of my life is filled with music.” Ward said.
In the future, Ward wants to go to Georgia State for something in the music realm. Although there are hundreds of options in the musical realm, she has really been focusing on music therapy, musical theater, and vocal performance. Getting these kinds of awards and being so involved inside and outside of school is helping her get closer and closer to these future careers.
Her biggest inspirations are her peers and her grandmother. Her peers push her to be more than she is each and every day, and help her become the best version of herself she can be. She’s also inspired by her grandmother because of her dream to be in the music industry. Although she wasn’t able to make a career out of it, she lives her dream through Ward. “She really inspires me to do it, not only for myself, but also for her,” Ward exclaimed.
Ward is a very open-minded and passionate person, making her the best person for this award. We are so very proud of Ward for getting this and being the only one in our school to do so. If you see her in the halls, make sure to congratulate her!
