From dance workshops to performances, the annual Thespian Conference (ThesCon) provides theater students with every experience they may want. December 11th through December 13th, theater students through Grandview got the chance to show off their skills.

“It’s a whole conference and about 5,000 students and teachers descend onto downtown Denver at the convention center and they take classes and workshops,” Monica Slabach (Theater) said. “They also have the chance to participate in things called IE, Individual Events.”

ThesCon is a three day conference for high school theater groups. It gives anyone interested in theater the opportunity to experience a variety of workshops, among other opportunities. 

“Seniors can do college auditions and earn scholarships and awards,” Nick Hamilton (12). “It’s really great to get to learn from a bunch of professionals in the theater industry from across the country.”

Outside of awards, students have the opportunity to show off their talents through individual events. 

“They can do something like a musical theater competition or a stage management competition and they can get feedback and grades from a judge that qualifies them for the National Thespian Conference,” Slabach said. 

Since they get to show off their skills, students have been working for the past several weeks to be ready to perform. 

“I’m a little nervous,” Emila Gilmartin (11) said. “It’s a lot of work to balance the one act along with all the other stuff we’re doing in classes. Also I’m doing an individual event, so there’s nerves that come with that.”

Grandview Bravo class participates in a One Act every year. This year, they won first place with their One Act. They each prepared themselves in different ways to reach this result.

“I have a Quizlet with my one act lines that I run, like, literally in any free time that I can get,” Hamilton said. 

Though some students have several events to prepare for along with their one act. 

“I’m running through my song as much as I can and I have Zoom meeting rehearsals for the opening number,” Hamilton said. 

Despite their schedules being full of workshops, performances, and other events, each year they find time to go get one dinner together. 

“I’d say the most special part of it is when we all go to Maggiano’s together,” Hamilton said. “It’s usually the first night. They give us a really fancy dinner and we’re all in our theater troop shirts, it’s really informal, but we’re all acting fancy.” 

Their large dinner and all the events they can participate in allows for unique opportunities to get closer to each other and new friends.

“It really builds community because you can choose what workshops you want to learn and you’re kind of in control of what you want to learn about,” Gilmartin said. “So a lot of people are really engaged and willing to work with each other and meet new people from across the state.”

All the events and all the people participating makes ThesCon a memorable experience. For Slabach, she has memories as both a teacher and a student.

“I remember going to ThesCon as a student,” Slabach said. “They took Grandview’s show, my senior year, of Ragtime, and they got to do that and perform in front of 5,000 students. It’s one of the loudest audiences I think I’ve ever heard.”

ThesCon provides an interesting opportunity to see what everyone has spent their time working hard on. Leaving an impression on those who’ve seen the progress in Individual Events. 

“It’s just fun to have a lot of pride in what you’re bringing to the stage and also be proud of everyone else and what they’re doing,” Slabach said.