The Marquette Theater Company (MTC) won two Cappies awards out of 19 nominations for last year’s performances of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Little Women”. MHS won Best Cappies Team and Julia Germeroth, Class of 2014, won Best Comedic Actress in a Play.
Cappies, which comes from an abbreviation for Critics Award Program, is an organization that recognizes excellence in high school theatre. It was started in 1999 by a theatre teacher and a journalist who were upset by the lack of good publicity about high school theatre.
“They realized that in the newspapers we heard about what’s going on in high schools with sports teams, but you didn’t hear about all the good things going on in theatre,” Judi Jones, theatre teacher, said.
The MHS Cappies team is made up of nine critics who attend shows at 13 other schools throughout St. Louis and write reviews with the top four being published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Bugle.
At the end of the year, the Cappies vote online on many different categories such as Best Play, Best Lead Actor/Actress and Best Song in a Musical.
Cappies are not allowed to vote in a category they were nominated for, which helps to prevent bias, Andrew Doing, senior and lead critic of the MHS Cappies team, said.
“I wanted to get involved with theatre around St. Louis and at other schools since I really hadn’t seen shows at other schools before I was in Cappies,” Doing said.
Cappies awards are not only for actors and actresses but also for technicians. There are awards for both entire productions and awards for individuals.
Germeroth won an individual award for her role as Aunt March in “Little Women” last year. It was Germeroth’s first Cappie win as a performer.
Germeroth said she felt stunned when she found out she won.
“The best moment wasn’t actually receiving the award, but all the love and support from my MTC family,” Germeroth said. “We are always so excited for each other.”
Germeroth said it is important for students to have the opportunity be involved in a program like Cappies.
“It gives a different perspective to theatre that is otherwise ignored,” Germeroth said.
Germeroth is pursuing her acting career at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She plans to get her Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting.
For Germeroth, theatre serves as an outlet, allowing the actor to make connections with the audience and tell stories.
“Doing theatre in high school made me a more confident person, gave me incredible life-long friends and taught me the true meaning of hard work,” Germeroth said.