Friday, 09 December 2011 00:00

Written by Opelika Observer

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The Opelika High Theatre Society (OHTS) walked away with four outstanding awards when it attended the Trumbauer Alabama State Theatre Festival, held in Florence on the University of North Alabama’s campus Dec. 1 through Dec. 3.

Two acts in the Novice division were awarded first place: Thomas Burns and Jonathan Johnsick in the Duet Dramatic Acting Classical category and Auburn Terry and Emily Johnston in the Duet Comedic category.

In the Varisty division, Erin Slay placed third in the Solo Acting Contemporary Female category.

Revel Gholston, director of the OHTS, said he was pleased by the performances from all of the theatre society’s members during the competition.

“I have never been more proud of a group of actors that I have taken to Trumbauer,” Gholston said. “It was a very young group, and the fact they met all of the expectations set by previous society members is very inspiring to see what lies down the road.”

Several OHTS members said they saw the state competition as a way to improve and hone their own skills.

“I got to improve my acting from observing other actors,” Mary Grace Sasser said.
Acton Cole agreed.
“It brings out the best of me. I’ve lost a lot of emotion and gained a lot of respect,” Cole said. Gholston and the OHTS have taken a one-act performance to Trumbauer for the last five years, and this year’s entry, Gholston and former OHTS member Wesley Ballew’s self-written musical “Take the Repeat,” was one of 18 one-acts performed at this year’s competition.

Cast member Ashley Robertson was recognized for her performance in “Take the Repeat,” with an All- Star Cast Member award.

Friday, 02 December 2011 00:00

Written by Opelika Observer

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By Taylor Sasser Student Writer

The annual school literary magazine, Perspectives, is now accepting pre-orders for $7.

While many people are familiar with the awarded magazine, they are not exactly sure how it is created.

People in the community ask questions like, “Where does the staff get the poems and prose that go into the book?” or, “How long does the staff have to put the magazine together?”

The Perspectives staff is made up of students who have completed an application process the previous year. The staff meets every black day first block. In this class, members work on the feature, a subject that is chosen at the beginning of every year, and read student submissions. These submissions include the poetry, prose, non-fiction and artwork that appear in the finished copy of the book.

“We ask the student body to submit poetry, fiction, non-fiction and prose, and each member of the Perspectives staff reads the submissions, which are numbered so they remain anonymous,” Megan Dorsey, senior and editor of Perspectives said. “It’s a lot like American Idol; we take them, and we have ‘maybes,’ ‘yes’s’ and ‘no’s.’ Then we narrow them down to yes or no.”

After the submissions are finalized, another staff that meets on red days during first block creates the actual layout of the magazine. This staff is the Publishing staff.

The Publishing staff, using a program called InDesign, creates the magazine, incorporating the artwork, photography and written work to create the completed magazine. The magazine is then e-mailed to the printer in April, and the boxes of magazines will return to the school about two weeks later to be passed out to the students who pre-ordered a magazine.

“I think the magazine is a way for students to express themselves, be it through art or some form of writing,” Dorsey said.

When asked how she hopes the magazine will be in later years, Dorsey said, “I really hope the magazine keeps growing. The later magazines aren’t up to me, but I just hope that future members continue to really care about the magazine and do all they can to make it as incredible as it always has been.”

The magazine will be on sale this week during all lunch waves which runs from 11:30 a.m. until 1:20 p.m. The magazines can be pre-ordered for $7.