Alyssa Harbaugh and Luke Hodgson represented Clarkston High School at the 4th Annual Ovation Awards at Wharton Center, May 17.
‘It was a cool thing to be chosen,? said Harbaugh.
‘It was an honor to go,? Hodgson added. ‘Just the support we got from our classmates and our director, Jeff Tice, was really a great experience. It felt like everything we worked for was appreciated.?
One female lead and one male lead from each high school is nominated by their theatre and music director to compete.
Tice, director of Clarkston High School Drama Club, explained the nominees go through a rigorous application process. Fifty are accepted and perform at the awards.
The first day they were there they learned two different ensemble songs to dance and sing to as they performed as a group. They also sang a song in medley groups from their characters, which for Hodgson and Harbaugh both came from their characters from ‘Bye Bye Birdie.?
‘It was really a very humbling experience with all of the crazy amount of talent which was present at the event,? Hodgson added. ‘Michigan is a pretty talented place.?
They added the experience of working with other students, the judges and choreographers from New York will help them as they continue in the theatre.
‘It keeps a good perspective and something I can always be reaching for when I am doing a role,? Harbaugh said. ‘Always reaching for that level of excellence.?
‘It also offered a level of belonging in a way because you have so many people who just like you worked just as hard if not more hard than you did to get to the level you are at,? Hodgson added.
Both began acting when they were younger. Harbaugh’s first show was in eighth grade with Mt. Zion School of Performing Arts.
Hodgson also began at Mt. Zion when he was eight-years-old.
‘It was a great experience and I was in their youth theater for a while,? Hodgson said. ‘Then, I started doing film as well which has been a very cool experience. I came to Clarkston because I entered the ninth grade. I started doing musicals and I am still doing musicals now.?
Both also enjoy their time acting.
‘The best part for me truly is all of the thought that goes behind a character backstage,? Harbaugh smiled. ‘It is an amazing feeling to get a script, read a character and then become them, understand them and understand things that aren’t relevant to the script about them.”
‘For me it is about experiences I make personally and interconnectedly with my peers who work on the entire project with me, as well as the adults who help bring everything together,? Hodgson said. ‘And just the general sense of making an audience feel something.?
Hodgson enters his senior year in the fall and plans to continue helping out the CHS Drama Club any way he can.
‘I am going to explore film a little bit more,? he added. ‘As far as college plans I am thinking about double majoring in International Studies and film acting or theater acting, then possibly a minor in musical theatre.?
As a junior, Harbaugh will spend the next two years dedicating more to the drama club with more leadership roles and being involved with the shows anyway she can.