For the second year in a row, an SM East actress has been named the best lead actress in the metro area’s high school musicals.
Maddie Roberts won the Blue Star Award for Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role for her portrayal of Fiona in the SM East production of Shrek!…The Musical. Last year, Lily Kaufmann won for her role in The Drowsy Chaperone.
SM East also won a Blue Star Award for Outstanding Costume design.
“Knowing what these kids are capable of, and seeing them rewarded for literally thousands of hours of dedication is a wonderful thing,” said SM East theatre director Brian Cappello. “I’m so happy for all our kids.”
Roberts said she was in total shock with the presenters called her name.
“It’s kind of funny, because earlier in the day my mom had been saying I might want to write a speech,” she said. “I was like, ‘Nah…I don’t think I’ll be needing one of those.’ I guess that really would have been pretty useful.”
But, Roberts said, she didn’t have a hard time thinking of who to thank on the fly.
“I had a lot of people to thank, and I knew who they all were,” she said. “It was hard to absorb everything that was happening at the moment. I kind of had to go home and take it all in. It was hard to get to sleep.”
Roberts will be attending Oklahoma City University next year to study musical theatre.
The Blue Star Awards honor the top performers and productions from among 52 high school musical theatre programs.