YISS students Alex J. (7), David L. (7), Evelyn K. (6), Katie L. (5), Lily K. (4), and Kate L. (4) participated in the 2019 Junior Theater Festival (JTF) West in Sacramento, California, from February 8-10, 2019. They were a part of a musical team that performed the Disney Jr. musical Madagascar.

The Junior Theater Festival brings together student musical theater troupes from all over the world for a weekend of musical theater. Each troupe performs fifteen minutes from a Broadway Junior show for adjudication by a panel of musical theater experts.

The group received the highest honor, the Outstanding Performance award, with only six out of the 133 companies performing at the festival earning this top honor. An Outstanding Performance award means the recipients received the highest praise in all areas of musical theater, including dance, music, acting and ensemble work. Furthermore, David L. (7) was awarded a Freddie G Award for Excellent Individual Performance by a Male.

Along with the other Outstanding Award recipients, the musical team from Seoul presented a number from their award-winning performance on the big stage for two thousand attendees. The Wells Fargo Pavilion in Sacramento, CA, was filled with excitement as the YISS students and their team closed out the Outstanding Award performances at the Freddie G Awards Ceremony with an energetic rendition of “I Like to Move It” to a standing ovation.

Congratulations to our Junior Theater Festival participants!