Theater Students Dazzle

5/18/2024

The Upper School production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was nominated for two Dazzle Awards in 2024. The technical lighting and sound crew was nominated for Best Technical Execution, and Aidan Moll ’25 was nominated—and won!— for Best Supporting Actor.

Congratulations to Aidan and the technical crew: Brad Perry '25, lighting designer; Pierson Cerar '25 & Theo Dengler '24, spotlight operators; Kartik Gulati '27, Andrew Malbasa '26, Thomas Malbasa '26, and Theo Walter '27, sound; and Gabe Ewen '25, stage manager. Though there is no Dazzle category for Best Director or Technical Director, Mrs. Pribble and Mr. Wickboldt would have surely been on the nomination list.

About the Dazzle Awards
The Dazzle Awards presented by Pat & John Chapman inspire and honor excellence in high school musical theater and recognize the importance of musical theater and arts education within the Northeast Ohio community. The program offers arts education opportunities throughout the school year including professional master classes, audition workshops, and apprenticeships and culminates regionally at Playhouse Square with the Dazzle Awards Ceremony, modeled after the Tony Awards®, to recognize outstanding musical theater productions and students.

Each year, a curated panel of independent adjudicators attends one production at each participating school and provides educational feedback and scores to determine nominations and awards in more than 12 categories. The 2024 Dazzle Awards Ceremony was held at the KeyBank State Theatre on May 18, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. The Dazzle Awards program is affiliated with the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (“The Jimmy Awards”) presented by The Broadway League Foundation.

Back

- Members of the cast and crew of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on the red carpet of the Dazzle Awards.
- Aidan Moll '25 won a Best Supporting Actor title for his performance of Vice Principal Panch in the production. He and another local thespian were tied in the judging and shared the honor.
- Members of the technical crew Kartik Gulati ’27, Theo Walter ’27, and Technical Theater Director Mr. Wickboldt at a rehearsal.
- Andrew Malbasa ’26 (left) and Thomas Malbasa ’26, members of the technical crew who prefer to stay behind the scenes, did not want their photo taken at rehearsal.
- Liam Monaghan '24, Carter Loeser '26, Aidan Moll '25, Lexi Cowan '24 (Laurel), and Elle Richey '25 (Laurel) on stage.
- Aidan Moll '25 in his award-winning role as Vice Principal Douglas Panch.
- Aidan accepting his award in front of a packed KeyBank State Theater in Playhouse Square.