GMC News

November 12, 2013 GMC One Act Team secures state title Vaishali Patel The Union-Recorder The Union-Recorder Tue Nov 12, 2013, 09:00 AM EST MILLEDGEVILLE — Georgia Military College’s One Act Team won the 2013 Georgia High School Association (GHSA) State Championships over the weekend at Warner Robins High School for their performance of “Chicago: The Musical.” “The students were magnificent. It’s amazing how mature and adult they carry themselves on stage,” said Mark Weaver, GMC Fine Arts director. “I’m more than proud of them and they’re very encouraging of each other which is nice to see.” In addition to the state title, a few GMC students won acting awards. Sarah McTyre won Best Actress for her portrayal of Roxie Hart and Roy Wood won Best Actor for the role of Billy Flynn. Judges awarded an All Star Cast recognition to Maya Mapp for the role of Velma Kelley. “Those awards plus the championship gave GMC a clean sweep of the official state titles,” Weaver said. “We took home a state trophy and all of the students received a championship medal, T-shirts and visors from Georgia Farm Bureau, who is the statewide sponsor for all GHSA events.” The One Act Team won the area competition at Baldwin High School in mid-October while competing against seven other schools. GMC defeated last year’s state champion Dekalb School of the Arts by 23 points in the area competition. GMC was distinguished with a total of seven awards, including All Star Cast, Master of Ceremonies, Technical, Best Actress and Best Costumes. “This was a really good win for us. Dekalb School of the Arts were last year’s state champion and we came out on top in the area and the state,” Weaver said. “Our kids performed beautifully with all the precision and energy that served them well at the area competition. Even the other competing schools knew that they were looking at the champions.” After the GHSA season kicks off Aug. 1 every year, auditions are held to select the top-performing talent. This year’s One Act Team consists of 34 high school students. “This year based on the talent we had returning, I picked ‘Chicago’ for our one-act play. Then we had to get a license agreement with the publisher, and conduct a show that is a 55-minute on-stage performance,” Weaver said. “[The Vibe Dance Center Co-owners] John and Elizabeth Carr choreographed the show and we went right into musical rehearsals to prepare for the area competition.” Since Weaver came on board as the school’s fine arts director in 2011, his mission was to bring one-act plays back to GMC after nearly a decade. “It had been at least 10 years since GMC had One Act. The first two years I came on board, we were region runner-up,” he said. “To win this year with a state title was just over the moon.”