SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The past 12 months have been difficult on live theater, but Mercury Theatre Company’s Junior Company didn’t let the pandemic stop them from getting to work virtually, and winning a slew of awards during a recent national competition.
The Mercury Juniors, under the direction of founder Pierre-Jacques Brault and Aubrey Fink, won seven awards at the 2021 Musical Theatre Competitions of America. The competition was held virtually, with groups competing online from throughout the United States. The Junior Company is made up of students grades 6-12 from 19 area schools and two states.
Senior Emma Grace (EG) Canzano, of Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, was awarded first place in Senior Vocal Performance for her rendition of “I’d Rather Be Me” from “Mean Girls: The Musical,” and senior Ethan Peterson, of Chardon High School, winner of the Shining Star CLE 2020 singing contest, took second place in Senior Vocal Performance. For his work, Peterson was also selected to perform in a masterclass with Broadway veteran Christopher J. Hanke.
Peterson and Canzano were joined by senior James Newton, of Garfield Heights High School, a fourth-place winner in the Senior Vocal Performance category.
The Mercury Junior Company won third place in Advanced Ensemble Production for its interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” as well as winning third place in Advanced Musical Revue for its revue, “What If: The Music and Lyrics of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey.”
Additionally, freshman Stanley Niekamp, of Firestone High School, was awarded fourth place in Freshman Vocal Performance, and Canzano took home an additional prize, third place in Senior Monologue Performance.
“We videotaped them here in Cleveland (at Notre Dame College’s auditorium in South Euclid),” Brault said of the contest process, “sent (video) to be adjudicated, and then the weekend we normally would have been in (Los Angeles, where the competition was based), we met here at the theater, the students and I, and watched the whole weekend virtually -- with live adjudication and live feedback. And then the culmination of the weekend is the awards ceremony, and we won seven awards.”
Despite the fact that Mercury was turning in for judging video, Brault said he did not stop the productions to make corrections. “We didn’t stop,” he said. “It’s not been easy. We’ve been working with video the last year. As someone who has worked for years on live events, (video) is a different medium because the sound is different, how you light is different, how you film it, because you, even more so, have to be the audience eye.”
A year ago, Mercury took part in the virtual Junior Theatre Festival, and won first place for choreography for its production of “High School Musical.”
Now in its fifth year, Mercury Junior Company is a pre-collegiate training program created to prepare students for a career in the performing arts.
The complete roster Mercury Junior Company roster also includes: Frankie Ashkettle (8th grade, Chagrin Falls Middle School); Jabari Babb (7th grade, Twinsburg Middle School); Elizabeth Brey (Junior, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin High School in Chardon); Arianna DiMenna (Junior, Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills); Lauren DiMenna (Freshman, Gilmour Academy); Kate Doyle (Junior, Norwalk High School); Gabe Feinberg (Freshman, Orange High School); and Addie Garst (Freshman, Stow-Monroe Falls High School).
Also, Sloane Harris (Freshman, Beachwood High School); Kallista Hayes (Junior, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin); Nya Ku (Junior, Kenston High School in Chagrin Falls); Maya Marderstein (Freshman, Orange High School); Piper Noda (8th grade, Kenston Middle School); Charley Peck (Senior, Chagrin Falls High School); Elle Richey (8th grade, Laurel School in Shaker Heights); Emma Robb (Freshman, Aurora High School); Mary Rose Tamburrino (Junior, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin); Jillian Villa (Sophomore, Bedford High School in Michigan); and Emmett Vogel (6th grade, Gesu School in University Heights).
Mercury competed against nearly 100 groups and about 2,000 students from around the country.
Things won’t remain virtual for very long for the Mercury Junior group. Brault said that at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 14 and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 16, the group will perform “Merrily We Roll Along” live at Notre Dame’s Regina Auditorium, 4545 College Road. Tickets can be purchased on the Mercury Theatre website.
More upcoming live theater
Brault, who is director of theater at Notre Dame College, in addition to being Mercury’s artistic director, said that the NDC Theater Department will perform the play “Alice in Neverland” at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. April 24. The play, by Oklahoman Maggie Radar, was the winner of the college’s Second New Play Festival, in which more than 400 plays were entered from around the world.
“It’s a mashup of two stories that we love,” Brault said. “In this, Alice is a detective and Peter Pan has been ‘napped. She’s a playwright who really writes for women, and that is highlighted in the Alice story, even for young audiences. Technically, this will be our first live production back.”
For ticket information, visit notredamecollege.edu, and search “performing arts.”
In following CDC guidelines, attendees must wear masks. Attendance in the 1,200-seat theater will be limited to 250 spaced seats.
As for Mercury Theater’s live summer productions, Brault said live plays are being planned for the Notre Dame Auditorium stage this summer. He said that more details will be made known in a couple of weeks.
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