<p>Thank you so much, amtm!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter and your family!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter! From your description, I really like the way the competition seems to be set up – most costume competitions I’ve seen are from actual productions, and the sound of this is that it would really level the playing field among schools that have the financial resources to dump tons of money into production values, and those that are forced to scrape by on a shoe-string budget.</p>
<p>MusThCC - that is a very good point. Yes, it really does level the playing field, because the student designer isn’t limited in any way by the size or budget of the school they go to and are not dependent upon the school’s infrastructure and resources for actual sewing of costumes - which is no small thing. It’s just about their designs, how they execute them, and most importantly (and this is what put my daughter over the top both years and really set her apart) how tight their written justification was. My daughter told me that during her critique, the judge really emphasized how well her justification was done. You can’t just make pretty costumes - you have to have good reasons for all your design choices, well supported and researched.</p>
<p>Also everyone is doing the same design prompt, but they can interpret it within the guidelines any way they want to, so that puts everyone on the same footing also. Colleen Atwood said something at one of the Oscars when she was getting (yet another) award for a period show, about the costumers who do such great work on shows that aren’t fantasy or historical. I mean, that would suck if you got stuck doing something like Death of A Salesman and someone else got Midsummer Night’s Dream or 1776!! </p>
<p>I do think that the UIL does a good job of the design competition - based on my daughter’s experiences I think it’s been a wonderful learning experience and very fairly and evenly run and judged. You know the Texas UIL One Act competition is the biggest one act festival in the world - according to their website - and started back in the 20’s. (though this design competition is new, and I say, about time!!) Though, my daughter’s theater tech teacher says it’s the only one he’s ever seen which is set up with way it is, with sudden death and all, which is as much like a football tournament as they could possibly make it. haha.</p>
<p>It is surprising to me that we really don’t have a lot more drama and MT colleges here in this state than we do, because we have some pretty awesome high school theater programs. (my D’s wasn’t, but there are others which are.)</p>
<p>Next year’s design prompt is, actually, A Midsummers Night’s Dream. Wow. My daughter is wishing she could compete with THAT one - you can do ANYTHING with that. My SIL did it once with an Arabian Nights theme.</p>
<p>Wow. That is awesome. I know what a big deal the UIL competition is (my D competed in spelling and vocabulary division) and to win state is amazing. To do it two years in a row is ridiculous! Congrats!</p>
<p>The design part is a new contest and is just now getting fairly big. Her first year she entered as a sophomore, she was a finalist, but did not win. She upped her game considerably for last year and did win - but she knew that it would be a lot tougher this year as more and more kids enter it. They have been making huge jumps in entries every year and there was a big jump in the number of finalists this year so we were thinking, it would be great if she even placed - we were shocked really at winning first again. Especially when there is an element of subjectivity to something like this.</p>
<p>Congratulations to you and your daughter. She must be extremely talented!! You Southerners seem to have all kinds of cool MT and theater type things going on down there-lol- I’m jealous!!!</p>
<p>Well, we are a long long loooong way from Broadway and the majority of the highly desirable well known schools, or either coast, so we have to create our own stuff or we’d be out of luck. ha.</p>
<p>This is SO cool. Congrats, SDF!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations & I’m impressed that Texas has that competition? Is it through Thespians? I have been a volunteer costume mistress for the last 10 years( My real job is veterinarian)& I love working with the costumes & designing them.</p>
<p>The Theatrical Design competition in Texas is part of the official, comprehensive program of high school and middle school competitions held by the University Interscholastic League, run by the University of Texas. The UIL holds competitions in just about anything you can think of in sports, academics and arts. There is a progression in each event from zone to district to region to state. Some examples in the arts (in addition to the Theatrical Design Contest include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The One Act Play contest is one of the most hotly-contested events in Texas and winning is a big deal. </p></li>
<li><p>Reaching All-State Choir through regional auditions is generally regarded as a significant achievement in the state. </p></li>
<li><p>Having your band or choir receive “Sweepstakes” at State is another big deal (the ensemble receives “Superior” ratings in all categories of performance and sight reading).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Alas, there is no specific category for Musical Theatre.</p>
<p>Congrats :)</p>
<p>This type of competition is such a wonderful opportunity for theatre kids. Here in Ontario, we have the annual Sears Drama Festival for high school productions. It’s been in existence for 65 seasons. In the years my Ds were involved, there were about 400 entries each year. Schools can enter the competition with one of their annual productions or, as was the case with my Ds arts h/s, their playwriting teacher entered what he though were the top three student written plays each year. Every theatre major had to take this class and had to write a play. The top three would be cast and performed at the school, and all three were entered into the local competition, then the regional, and finally the provincial.</p>
<p>Most schools only submit one entry. My Ds’ school wins awards every year in many of the different categories and there is a provincial showcase to end the season in the spring. Great fun and a terrific experience for all kids involved. There are several bursaries that are awarded at the showcase. My D won the best new play one year and shortly after that, it was published and has been performed several times since. It was her first published play and she’ll always be grateful to the Festival for launching her writing career, which she continues to this day, in addition to her acting. Students who have the opportunity to participate in these events should do so! Unfortunately, they’re not offered everywhere.</p>