The Wharton Center for Performing Arts selected two winners for its fourth annual Ovation Awards.
The winners of the award are Rockford High School student Maddy Mathias and Divine Child High School student Aleksander Papanastasopoulos. They were two of 38 high school students from across Michigan to compete for the award, which celebrates outstanding achievement and individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performances for both a male and female lead in a high school musical theater production.
The awards also highlight the teacher’s and the school’s commitment to excellence in performing arts education. Also honored at the ceremony was Cashion Maciel from Rockford High School as the recipient of the “Gypsy Robe,” bestowed on Maciel for embodying the qualities of dedication and professionalism throughout the awards weekend, as determined by his peers.
Mathias and Papanastasopoulos were awarded $1,000 cash, along with a full scholarship to “Take It From The Top," Wharton Center’s Summer Broadway intensive workshop offered in Grand Rapids, Traverse City and East Lansing. They will also head to New York City in June to compete in the National High School Musical Theater Awards on June 29. The program recognizes individual artistry in vocal, dance and acting performance, and honors teachers and their schools’ commitment to excellence in performing arts education.
The Ovation Awards partnership includes Wharton Center for Performing Arts, Broadway in Detroit and Broadway Grand Rapids.