News : Union HS Musical Theatre Named All-State Again! The tradition continues

The Union High School Fine Arts Department has again proven that hard work and determination pay off. The musical theatre entry of "Bright Star" has been selected to perform at the All-State Speech Festival for the Iowa High School Speech Association. Members of the ensemble include Natalie Tecklenburg, Riley Davis, Noah Damro, Tyson Fleshner, Sunshine Gray, and Carlie Hoppe. An interesting tidbit about this group, the students, wrote the cutting, created the blocking & choreography and rehearsed this entry on their own with minor adult direction.

A unique aspect to the Iowa High School Speech Contest is the fact that all schools in the state compete on an equal basis regardless of size. There are no classifications by school size. Union has created quite a tradition when it comes to quality musical theatre performances. Since 2002, this will be the 29th musical theatre entry by Union to be named to the All-State Festival. This is no small feat as most schools hope to have one entry get selected for this prestigious honor every few years. However, Union has become a constant fixture at the All-State Festival for musical theatre. They have also had the honor of being named the Banner-winning Critique's Choice Award winner as the top performance in the state 3 different times in those 18 years.

The All-State Festival is Saturday, Feb. 22nd in Ames, Iowa and open to the public and wristbands for admission can be purchased at the Union High School office during normal business hours.