For the second year in a row, the Union School Fine Arts Department has enrolled in a unique and relatively new national program-The Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards. This program is a state subsidiary of the National Program that celebrates work local high school students do in the area of Musical Theatre. Union’s entry into this event is their spring musical “State Fair, which will be produced at Union High School in La Porte City on Friday March 18th and Saturday March 19th.

The Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards, presented by Des Moines Performing Arts, celebrates the extraordinary achievements of young musical theater artists. The program aims to create visibility and support for high school musical theater programs and to highlight the importance of arts education.

Panels of community adjudicators comprised of performing arts educators and professionals attend and review each participating school’s production. Students and directors receive valuable constructive feedback that can be used to grow and strengthen their future work. Based on reviews and scores, schools ultimately receive awards in honor of their achievements in categories ranging from choreography, design, supporting performer, lead performer, and overall musical production.

The Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards is designed to be celebratory rather than competitive in nature. Any student or school at an outstanding level is recognized for their achievement. Multiple honorees may be named in each category as performances merit.

The year culminates in a professionally produced Awards Showcase event held on the Civic Center stage featuring outstanding student performances in June and is open to the public.

When asked why Union has chosen to enter the contest, Tim J. Mitchell, one of the co-directors stated, “We have always been proud of the quality work our students produce in the fine arts at Union. Our philosophy at Union is always to strive to improve in each arts medium in which we participate. When we learned of this program, which includes theatre professionals attending our performance and giving constructive feedback, we jumped at the chance to help take our performance to the next level. This will be a great experience for all of our students involved in the production.”

Tickets are now on sale for Union High School’s production of “State Fair” and can be purchased Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 3:30pm at the Union High School office. You may either stop in, call @ 319-342-2697. All seats are reserved seating and the price is $5.00 per seat.