AREA STUDENTS SNAG ‘TONYS’ IN MUSICAL THEATER

By Rachel J. Trotter,
Standard-Examiner
Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2016

OGDEN — Excitement was in the air Saturday, May 14, at Ogden High School’s Spencer Fox Eccles Auditorium as the Utah High School Musical Theatre Awards went into full swing.

Students from 26 high schools in Utah were nominated for a range of awards and were on hand for a ceremony that mirrored Broadway’s Tony Awards.

The show has some ties to New York City and Broadway, too, as the best actor and actress winners will spend one week in June training on Broadway and competing for the national best actor title and thousands of dollars in scholarships.

Vanessa Ballam, of Logan’s Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, directs the high school awards show and said the night at Ogden High School was amazing. Her father, Michael Ballam, a well-known opera singer and founder of the Utah Festival Opera, was the master of ceremonies and didn’t waste any time praising Ogden High’s art deco auditorium.

“I want you to take a moment and look around at this magnificent temple to the arts,” Michael Ballam said. “The community rose this from the dust and it shows it is invested in students in Utah, as are we.”

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