Drama Awards History
Each year the Director of Drama has the privilege of selecting several Thespians to receive special honors at the Drama Awards ceremony in May. Below is a brief description of the top awards that are presented, along with a list of the past recipients.
Best Thespian
The Best Thespian Award is presented to a senior who exemplifies dedication to excellence in theatre arts. They uphold the ideals of the International Thespian Society and are a role model to their peers.
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Molly Sawyer
2000 Ryan Forman
2001 Nate Burdette
2002 Marc Russo
2003 Chris Simmons
2004 Ethan Steigert
2005 Korey Kikta
2006 |
Melissa Mayse
2007 Sarah Hayes
2008 Travis Fujikawa
2009 Sarah Svoboda
2009 Melissa McFarland
2010 Dave Bina
2011 Joey Cogan
2012 |
Frankie Simmons
2013 Kevin McMichael
2014 Chris Fujikawa
2015 Keyshaun Smith
2015 Amanda Pace
2016 Sam Fujikawa
2017 Kayleigh Wisniewski
2018 |
Hannah Ford
2019 Alex Posar
2019 Jamie Brasdovich
2020 Julia Dulaney
2021 Natalie Wurts
2021 Stella Naymik
2022 |
Big Jule Award
The Big Jule Award is named after Nick Flauto, a student who played the role of Big Jule in our 2004 production of Guys and Dolls. Nick was always able to stay in character, no matter what happened during rehearsal. He was a leader, was dedicated to each role he played, and was always adding little nuances and character traits to his performance. These are the ideals that earned him this award in 2004 and that we continue to honor today. The Big Jule Award is presented each year to a senior.
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Nick Flauto
2004 Andrew Numbers
2005 Desiree Tidd
2006 Anthony DiBacco
2007 Katie Orosz
2008 |
Jenna Hedman
2009 Anna Porter
2010 Mike Roberto
2011 Josh Bodziony
2012 Alex Ham
2014 |
Layla Morris
2015 Madison Krempec
2016 Lexi Majoros
2017 Nolan Tater
2018 Anthony Strong
2019 |
Nathan Shaffer
2020 Noah Johnson
2021 Jacob Filisky
2022 Libby Herberth
2022 |
Ella Award
The "Ella" Award was created in 2016 and is awarded to a senior who has been dedicated and involved with Nordonia Drama all four years of high school, but really comes into their own as a performer and steps into the spotlight their senior year. This award is named after its first recipient, Emma Gabor, who portrayed Ella in our 2016 production of Cinderella.
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Emma Gabor
2016 Rachel Kidd
2017 Abby Posar
2017 Jasmine Craine
2018 |
Nicky Dietzen
2019 Miah Montesano
2020 Bailey Coon
2021 Nina Hanus
2021 |
Grace Weber
2021 Alessia Carrossellia
2022 |
The Nathan Lalli Award
The Nathan Lalli Award was created in 2020 and is named after it's first recipient. During production of 2020's Seussical, Nathan went above and beyond with our musical fundraiser, selling program advertisements. When all was said and done, he had sold over one third of the total ad sales brought in! In addition, Nathan continued to impress the directors with his amazing attitude, kind heart and generous spirit. Nathan Lalli became the first recipient of this award in 2020. Going forward, this award will be given to one of the highest program ad sellers with this best attitude and work ethic. In naming this new award, the directors felt it was only fitting that future recipients should be awarded an honor named after such an exceptional individual.
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Nathan Lalli
2020 |
Hayley Springer
2021 |
Leah Jackson
2022 |
Debut Award
The Debut Award was created in 2018 and honors someone who has made a big impact in their first year with Drama. It can honor an individual in either an onstage or offstage role, and anyone from a freshmen beginning their time with Nordonia Drama to a senior who decided to audition for the musical for the first time.
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Haylee Bugaj
2018 Nathan Shaffer
2019 |
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Production Award
The Production Award honors a student who excels in an offstage role. Created in 2016, it is awarded to a senior who consistently goes above and beyond as a crew member, technician, or musician.
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Thomas Mackerty
2016 Alex Byers
2017 Erin Adams
2018 Emily Stokar
2018 |
Janisha Williams
2018 Abigail Ayers
2019 Camden Gelfand
2020 Joshua Lockshine
2020 |
Grace Czerwony
2021 Andrew Hawkins
2022 |
Most Growth Award
The “Most Growth” Award was created in 2011 and honors a student who has shown an impressive level of growth as a performer from one year to the next, or over the course of all four years. It is presented each year to an upperclassmen.
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Josh Bodziony
2011 Rachael Karlozi
2012 Katie Farley
2013 Chris Fujikawa
2014 Jamie Marlow
2014 Cati Brasdovich
2015 |
Shannon Howie
2015 Maria Maggard
2016 Missie Bleich
2017 Adree Ley
2018 Anthony Strong
2018 Nathan Lalli
2019 |
Hailey Beck
2020 Noah Johnson
2020 Emma Sarkissian
2021 Richie Nyce
2022 |
Sunshine Award
The Sunshine Award was created in 2012 and is given to a senior who continually makes us smile, whether on stage or off, and who always has a positive and bright attitude.
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Jason Conrad
2012 Amanda Bugenske
2013 Steve McFarland
2014 Charlene de Jesus
2015 |
Karoline Kress
2016 Dakota Pugh
2017 Bradford Zinn
2018 Ryan Dulaney
2019 |
Juliet Penrod
2020 Riley Jarosz
2021 Elizabeth Waight
2021 Hadassah Rayle
2022 |