West Hartford’s Kingswood Oxford received the Halo Award for ‘Best Musical’ and also received other honors for the production of ‘9 to 5: The Musical.’
Submitted by Jackie Pisani, Kingswood Oxford School
Kingswood Oxford’s Theater Department had a huge night on Thursday, June 2 at the Halo Awards held at the Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury. The school won Best Musical for their rendition of “9 to 5: The Musical,” performed in late February and directed by Kyle Reynolds, KO’s theater director.
This is the second time in two years that KO won Best Musical. The first was for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in 2020.
Additionally, KO’s “9 to 5” took home the prize for Best Choreography, Best Specialty Ensemble (Serafina Squatrito ’22, Avery Schiff, McKenzie Campbell ’23), the troika of beleaguered office workers who challenge their misogynistic boss.
Frank Pu ’23, Zaire Ramiz ’25, Faith Potter ’23, and Alice McClure ’23 won the Dance Molinari Scholarship which gives them the opportunity to workshop with Broadway dancers. This is a second win for Pu, the first time in Dance Molinari history that they awarded this prize twice to the same student.
Leading up to the performances, the cast prepared tirelessly since auditions in December. For the two weeks, prior to the show opening, the cast rehearsed after school until 9 or 10 at night. Despite the seamless performances of “9 to 5,” the musical did not occur without a hitch. In January, both the theater director and Music Director Steve Mitchell contracted COVID-19 and were quarantined for a week, setting back the performances.
“I am so proud of this very special group of Wyverns. Once again, our students have worked hard, taken risks, and persevered through challenging storytelling, difficult choreography, and many late nights of “let’s take it from the top!” said Director of Theater Kyle Reynolds. “I am very appreciative that the Halo Award committee has recognized our hard work, dedication to artistic integrity, and commitment to performing theater with a strong curriculum in hand and guidance from our Broadway partnerships. It’s not lost on me how rapidly our program has grown, and I am grateful to lead this signature program, an opportunity that means so much to so many within our community.”
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