[ot-caption title= “(From left to right: Athena Myers (Fr.), Noa Weiner (So.), Zack Shevin (So.), Tommy Sullivan (Jr.), Cayleigh Pine (Fr.), Nicholas Tossello (So.), Noey Boldizar (Jr.), and Mrs. Ortega) The cast of To Kill a Mockingbird celebrates their recent success with seven Cappies nominations. (via, Rachel Rutstein, junior)”]

What goes around comes around, and that surely applies to the talented cast of Pine Crest’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Last Tuesday, April 12^th, 2016, the Cappies from South Florida released their 2016 nominations, and Pine Crest received a whopping seven nominations for the play performed in early November. The Cappies is a non-profit organization that focuses on critiquing and awarding high school theater and journalism from all around the world. The South Florida Cappies is the first Cappies program in all of Florida, and it attends public and private high school productions in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. While the student actors and actresses were performing for an audience of peers, teachers, and families, they were also acting in front of a panel of Cappies critics, a group of high school students from all over South Florida.

Based off Harper Lee’s best-selling novel, the play was narrated by the future Scout Finch as she reminisced about an important time in her childhood. The PC cast brought the 20^th century book to life and truly did justice to the famous moments in the novel, such as the court scene and when Atticus Finch shoots the wild dog. Junior Tommy Sullivan, nominated for lead actor in a play, shares his experience with the cast during the months leading up to the show, “Being a part of a cast that you see everyday for at least two hours and then Sundays for at least two hours, you’re going to have to naturally come together, and I think that you can see that we naturally came together.”

The students began preparation for the play starting in November, and they worked after school every week up until November. Just like any sport or other extracurricular, theater is a large commitment and the students developed very close bonds during their extended practices. Tommy adds, “I think our seven nominees for Cappies is very impressive. I don’t think we could have done it without that chemistry that you develop from August all the way to the beginning of November. It’s really just a great experience to come together as a family and now seeing the fruits of our labor with these Cappies nominations.”

These close-knit relationships are the foundation for a successful performance. No matter who was nominated, all the cast members are overjoyed with the play’s success and are very proud of one another. Juniors Noey Boldizar and Tara Schulman congratulate their fellow playmates; they share their excitement for their nominated friend Cayleigh Pine, who played young Scout Finch in the production. Tara shares, “I can’t believe that she is only a freshman and she got nominated for Best Lead Actress.” Noey comments in agreement, “We are very proud of the whole cast and all of the accomplishments that we have made.”

As both an English teacher and the director of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Ortega felt a special connection while transforming the famous novel into a play with her students, some of which are in her class. Mrs. Ortega shares her bond with Lee’s book, “Directing To Kill a Mockingbird felt as challenging as a Shakespearean tragedy because I was committed to bringing this historical moment to life as accurately as possible. The issues of race and injustice from Harper Lee’s childhood endure today—more than 50 years after the publication of the novel.”

Whether they were on stage, behind stage, or in the audience, all can agree that the cast and crew became inseparable during the first few months of school because of the close relationships that blossomed from practices everyday. These close friendships played hand in hand with the students’ depiction of the 1960s classic, which is a major reason why the performances were so compelling. Mrs. Ortega speaks highly of her students and her overall joy she had the night of the show, “The cast and crew who brought Maycomb to life told Harper Lee’s story with dignity and grace and I am so very proud of the magic they created—to allow Pine Crest to “climb into the skin” of Tom, of Atticus and of Scout for two hours and to feel their frustration and pain of injustice and racism.” To top it all off, the Cappies nominations are just a sweet ending to an incredible journey; Mrs. Ortega comments, “The seven Cappies’ nominations are a testament of their hard work and talent.”

Selected out of a vast amount of students across South Florida, Pine Crest’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird has seven award nominees:

Creativity: Sarah Gale (music composition)
Ensemble in a play: Townspeople
Featured actor in a play: Nicholas Tosello
Comic actress in a play: Nicole Thraum
Comic actor in a play: Sammy Koolik
Lead actress in a play: Cayleigh Pine
Lead actor in a play: Tommy Sullivan

On May 24^th, 2016, the Cappies will hold their annual gala at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. At the Cappies Gala, winners will be announced for each of the 42 categories. Pine Crest wishes our drama department the best of luck this May and everyone is very proud of the accomplishments the entire cast has made thus far.

For more information about the South Florida Cappies, please visit http://www.cappies.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.cappies.com/sfc&