Spotlight shines on Brookwood The Gwinnett equivalent of the Academy Award goes to Brookwood High By By D. AILEEN DODD, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Conyers, GA - They are Gwinnett County Schools' rising stars — student actors, set designers and singers who play to packed crowds and standing ovations. Winning at the State 1-Act Competition is the Gwinnett equivalent of the Academy Award and it went to Brookwood High. The school's advanced production class won second place in the state 8-AAAAA competition for its performance of the musical "Into the Woods." In Salem High School's 600 seat auditorium even the the standing-room was full as "begin!" was called by the time judge and Brookwood took the stage. Each performance group waited outside a marked stage area and had 55 minutes to set-up, perform and clear the area. The shows were graded and ranked by three judges and a time keeper. Brookwood was the last show of the day so everyone knew how high the bar had been set. The audience was drawn-in by the ensembles's opening - the Witch drew applause with "Beans", the crowd went absolutely wild when the Wolf met Red Riding Hood, Jack's goodbye to "Milky White" was surprisingly touching and the Princes lament "Agony" also drew a big crowd reaction. I doubt the duet "It Takes Two" has ever been done better; in fact the depth of the cast - there were no weak performances - kept the pace of the show strong and the crowd involved. The songs weren't the only treat, the acting, between show stopping musical numbers were what set this production apart and were a large part of what earned the standing ovation that followed. In the end, the one point that separated first and second place, goes to show how hard it is to judge between two such different and near perfect productions. The audience was the real winner here. The Stephen Sondheim musical weaves scenes from the fairy tales "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Rapunzel" into a humorous story about a baker and his wife who are desperate to break a family curse so they can conceive a child. "At region we won best costumes, best set and best props," said Ken Lindahl, the play's technical director. "Three of our performers were selected as part of the all-star cast.'' Students performed the musical Thursday and Friday at Brookwood before they packed up the set and headed to the state finals at Salem High in Conyers on Saturday. Thirty-three students participate in the making of the musical, from set-building and costume design, to acting. "It is a very strong cast of many talented students," Lindahl said. "Everyone is equal from the banner-holder to the [actor] who sing solos in the spotlight." On Saturday, the cast won second place for its efforts. First place went to Tri-Cities High's production of "Purlie". "The score was 290 to 289," Lindahl said. "We felt pretty good." Norcross High's production of "Steel Magnolias" took third in the competition and Kennesaw Mountain's "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" placed fourth. Click on a picture preview to see the full photograph. Go back Published on: 11/15/04