All four LWSD comprehensive High School Theatre Programs awarded gold at the Washington State Thespian Festival

Students from Eastlake, Juanita, Redmond and Lake Washington high schools showed up and showed out at the Washington State Thespian Festival in Seattle, March 12-13, 2026, with each school coming away with honors. Students presented a year’s worth of work from their respective theatre programs in the categories of participation, community service and production to qualify for Gold Honors, the highest recognition given to high school theatre programs by the Educational Theatre Association.

Advisors for each school are as follows:

• Eastlake High School - Kate Wold, State Thespian Executive Board Member
• Juanita High School - Elizabeth McMurray-Hauk, State Thespian Board Member
• Redmond High School - Olivia Sanabria
• Lake Washington High School - Morgan Heetbrink

The Washington State Thespian Festival is a packed two-day event with opportunities for students to attend a variety of theatre workshops and to present or attend other schools’ performances. The theme this year was “Take Up Space.” Juanita High School and Redmond High School, under the direction of Elizabeth McMurray-Hauk and Olivia Sanabria, respectively, were chosen to present mainstage performances, and both received awards.

The following awards were given at the festival’s closing ceremonies:

• Best of Fest – Musical Mainstage
  • Juanita High School, Ride the Cyclone
• Superior Performance - Comedic Mainstage
  • Redmond High School, Merry Murders at Montmarie
• Technical Showcase Honoree for Costume Design
  • July Cao, Eastlake High School
• State Thespian Officer for the 2026-2027 school year
  • Luke Tan, Eastlake High School

Regional Theatre Competitions

In January, students participated in technical and performance presentations and performances at the THESPYS, the Educational Theatre Associations National High School Theatre Competition. Below are the results of the Regional Competition held at Eastlake High School on January 10, 2026. Students are ranked and earn recognition if they fall in the top 20% (State Honoree) or the top 10% (National Qualifier). National Qualifiers are eligible to present or perform at the International Thespian Festival (Nationals) in Bloomington, Indiana, in June with the opportunity to win the category they entered. Last year, Malak Abdalla, as a junior at Juanita High School, was a National Winner in Scenic Design.

Eastlake High School

National Qualifiers, Top 10%

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION

• Emma Lee

COSTUME DESIGN

• July Cao

CONTRASTING MONOLOGUES

• Apurva Singh
• Devi Anand
• Louisa Donohoe

ACTING: TWO-PERSON SCENE

• Love, Death, and the Prom- Clio McKinsey and Devi Anand

ENSEMBLE ACTING

• All In The Timing- Luke Tan, Louisa Donohoe, and Anna Lyon

MUSICAL THEATRE DANCE: SOLO

• Leah Astle

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• Somethings are Meant to Be - Finley Wilson and Abby Lindell

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: ENSEMBLE

• I've Decided to Marry You- Finley Wilson, Abby Lindell and Liam Wheeler
• Sincerely Me- Luke Tan, Neil Cardoso and Rohan Sengupta
• When The Chips Are Down- Louisa Donohoe, Clio McKinsey and Sahana Narayanan

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Abby Lindell
• Anna Caufield
• Arsène Kuperstein
• Clio McKinsey
• Devi Anand
• Finley Wilson
• Luke Tan
• Neil Cardoso
• Sahana Narayanan
• Sam Brown

PLAYWRITING

• Abbie Huang
• Merrick Eliot

PROPS CONSTRUCTION

• Arsène Kuperstein

State Honorees, Top 20%

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION

• Kate Carter

COSTUME DESIGN

• Esmeralda Gabino Duque
• Maryska Reynolds
• Sal Baxter
• Sofia Lodi

CONTRASTING MONOLOGUES

• Chloe Martodam
• Esmeralda Gabino Duque
• Naomi Strand
• Piper Bergstrom

ACTING: MONOLOGUES

• Suri Mustafa

ACTING: TWO-PERSON SCENE

• Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad- Mannat Gupta and Sahana Narayanan

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• I Can't Lose You- Elena Almaguer-Bay and Leah Astle

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Alex Rabellino
• Ethan Hughes
• Kate Carter
• Liam Wheeler
• Marlena Schafer
• Naomi Strand
• Piper Bergstrom
• Rohan Sengupta

PLAYWRITING

• Akiko Gietzel

PROPS CONSTRUCTION

• Madaket Iris

SCENIC DESIGN

• Laura Rabellino

SHORT FILM: LIVE ACTION

• Ana Vemuri
• Dhvani Bhargav, Emma Lee, Jordyn Leacock and Noah Gibson

STAGE MANAGEMENT

• Kira Thompson

Juanita High School

National Qualifiers, Top 10%

COSTUME DESIGN

• Asher West-Herr
• Ava Newson
• Olivia Green

ACTING: CONTRASTING MONOLOGUES

• Jordan Norman

ENSEMBLE ACTING

• A Wrinkle In Time
  • Malak Abdalla
  • Luke Cunningham
  • Lennon Jones
  • Allison Martin
  • Grace Melton-Cook
  • Ava Newson
  • Jordan Norman
  • Simon Rundle
  • Tayla Vandee

LIGHTING DESIGN

• Lulu Sandbo

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: ENSEMBLE

• We've Got To Clean Out The Freezer
  • Olive Colon
  • Emersyn Kuykendall
  • Grace Melton-Cook
  • Lulu Sandbo
  • Olivia Sierer

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Olive Colon
• Olivia Brambilla
• Olivia Green

SCENIC DESIGN

• Allison Martin

THEATRE MARKETING

• Karunya Penumalla

State Honorees, Top 20%

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION

• Malak Abdalla

COSTUME DESIGN

• Anay Mandala
• Dennie Wallis
• Louise Vallat
• Stu Seghers

ACTING: MONOLOGUES

• Eloise Knight
• Kaylee Colvin
• Luke Cunningham
• Sydney Brixel

ACTING: CONTRASTING MONOLOGUES

• Ahoura Afifi
• Akshat Khatnani
• Makenna Bailie
• Olivia Sierer

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• You're The Top
  • Olive Colon
  • Grace Melton-Cook

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Ahoura Afifi
• Alex Pozen
• Allison Martin
• Ava Newson
• Emersyn Kuykendall
• Jordan Norman
• Lennon Jones
• Malak Abdalla

PLAYWRITING

• Tayla Vandee

SCENIC DESIGN

• Tayla Vandee

SHORT FILM: ANIMATED

• Akshat Khatnani

SOUND DESIGN

• Anay Mandala

Lake Washington High School

National Qualifiers, Top 10%

ACTING MONOLOGUES

• Emery Tredway
• Raine Guidi de Almeida

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• In A Crowd of Thousands
  • Bella McCabe
  • Lee Klinkenberg

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Avery Brown
• Emery Tredway
• Isabella McCabe
• Robyn Le

State Honorees, Top 20%

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• Sonya and Natasha
  • Emery Tredway
  • Avery Brown

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: ENSEMBLE

• A Heart Full of Love
  • Lee Klinkenberg
  • Riley Knutson
  • Bella McCabe

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Aly Eckhart
• Raine Guidi de Almeida

PLAYWRITING

• Emma Reiss

Redmond High School

National Qualifiers, Top 10%

ACTING: MONOLOGUES

• Cadence Spore
• Oskar Ylitalo

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• Secondary Characters
• Jade Breiding
• Cadence Spore

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: ENSEMBLE

• Matchmaker
  • Alice Goulding
  • Taashi Waghmare
  • Jade Breiding

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Jade Breiding
• Leah Manasco
• Sanvi Pathani
• Taashi Waghmare

SCENIC DESIGN

• Miska Cseh

THEATRE MARKETING

• Ananya Gokhale

State Honorees, Top 20%

ACTING: CONTRASTING MONOLOGUES

• Ava Hossein-Javaheri

MUSICAL THEATRE DANCE: ENSEMBLE

• Forget About the Boy
  • Alice Goulding
  • Brooklyn Sutton
  • Annalise Michels

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: DUET

• Slipping Through My Fingers
  • Brandon Boris
  • Hannah Dorrain

MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE: SOLO

• Amanda Nordenflycht
• Brandon Boris
• Cadence Spore
• Eden Orleow
• Hannah Dorrain

PLAYWRITING

• Oskar Ylitalo
• Yoshiya Kelly

SOUND DESIGN

• Nathan Koliha