GMC One Act Team secures state title
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 鈥� Georgia Military College鈥檚 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 鈥淐hicago: The Musical.鈥� 鈥淭he students were magnificent. It鈥檚 amazing how mature and adult they carry themselves on stage,鈥� said Mark Weaver, GMC Fine Arts director. 鈥淚鈥檓 more than proud of them and they鈥檙e very encouraging of each other which is nice to see.鈥� 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. 鈥淭hose awards plus the championship gave GMC a clean sweep of the official state titles,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淲e 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.鈥� 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鈥檚 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. 鈥淭his was a really good win for us. Dekalb School of the Arts were last year鈥檚 state champion and we came out on top in the area and the state,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淥ur 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.鈥� After the GHSA season kicks off Aug. 1 every year, auditions are held to select the top-performing talent. This year鈥檚 One Act Team consists of 34 high school students. 鈥淭his year based on the talent we had returning, I picked 鈥楥hicago鈥� 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,鈥� Weaver said. 鈥淸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.鈥� Since Weaver came on board as the school鈥檚 fine arts director in 2011, his mission was to bring one-act plays back to GMC after nearly a decade. 鈥淚t had been at least 10 years since GMC had One Act. The first two years I came on board, we were region runner-up,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o win this year with a state title was just over the moon.鈥�
