SHS to host District Speech

More than 600 aspiring young actors and actresses will travel to Spencer Saturday, Jan. 19, when Spencer High School hosts the Northwest District Speech Contest of the Large Group Speech Division of the Iowa High School Speech Association. Performances will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, and are all open to the public.

Students in Large Group Speech compete in 11 different areas, which include: ensemble acting, group mime, solo mime, T.V. news broadcasting, group improvisation, choral reading, readers' theatre, one-act play, musical theatre , radio broadcasting and short film.

Schools participating in District Large Group Speech Contest at Spencer include: Algona, Algona 9th, Algona Garrigan, Algona Garrigan 9th, Alta-Aurelia, Alta-Aurelia 9th, North Union- Armstrong-Ringsted, Clay Central-Everly, Emmetsburg, Estherville-LC, Estherville-LC 9th, Graettinger-Terrill,Harris Lake Park, Laurens Marathon, Okoboji-Milford, Okoboji-Milford 9th, Ruthven-Ayshire, Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids, Sioux Cenral, Sioux Rapids 9th, Spencer, Spirit Lake, Spirit Lake 9th, Storm Lake, Storm Lake 9th, Storm Lake St. Mary's and Storm Lake St. Mary's 9th.

Entries from these schools will make for a marathon of theatrical events on Saturday, which will include the performance of eight one-act plays, 11 choral readings, 18 readers' theaters, 17 musical theaters, 33 ensemble acting scenes, 12 group mimes, 10 solo mimes, 44 group improvisational scenes, one T.V. news broadcast, eight short films and 15 radio news broadcasts.

The district contest events will be held at the old middle school auditorium, the high school little theatre, and all of the Spencer High School classrooms and facilities.

Students competing at the district contest perform before judges in each area, vying for ratings of Excellent "I", Good "II" and Fair "III". Those receiving a Division "I" rating will advance to the Northwest Iowa Regional State Contest, which will be held at LeMars High Schol on Saturday, Feb. 2.

A public performance of all Spencer groups will be presented at "Thursday Night Live!' at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31 at the Old Middle School Auditorium.

Large Group Speech is under the direction of Larry Untiet, who is assisted by Katie Kardell (Musical Theatre Director), Erin McDermott (Choreographer), Eric Meeter (Short Film) and student assistant directors Sean McCord, Rachel Dole, Cayla Cunningham, Wil Boyens, Amber Ellis and Kevin Grimes.

A $3 admission fee will be asked of patrons at the door. A complete schedule of events for the day will be available at the high school office on Saturday.

SPENCER'S DISTRICT CONTEST ENTRIES

Note: Times are merely approximations. Report early to make sure you don't miss a performance.