Fort Scott High School Thespian Troupe #7365 competed at the International Thespian Festival (ITF) at Indiana University June 21-26.
FSHS sent more Thespy (individual event) competitors to this year’s Festival than ever before. 2026 graduates Levi Fairchild and Junie Fisher and junior Gianna Gorman competed in Musical Solo. Senior Ava Johnson performed Contrasting Monologues. Graduate Lily Brown competed in Short Film and graduate Grace Walker in Stage Management. Senior Clark Uttinger and Fairfield also performed in Duet Acting. The students qualified for nationals by receiving a Superior rating at the Kansas Thespian Festival in January.
Three of the students received a Superior rating at ITF, the highest honor of the Thespy rating system. These include Fisher and Fairchild in Musical Solo and Walker in Stage Management.
The troupe enjoyed opening festivities with 4,000 other Thespians including appearances by Huey Lewis and Thespian alum in the Savannah Bananas. They saw award winning productions of Urinetown, Suffs, Dear Evan Hansen, Shrek, The Night Witches, Kimberly Akimbo and The Prom. They finished the week with a Thespy Awards Ceremony and Showcase.
Throughout the week, the group attended workshops by theatre professionals and Broadway stars from across the country. This included a Legally Blonde dance Master Class with original Broadway cast member Paul Canaan.
The Thespian troupe is directed by Angie Bin. The next performance for FSHS is a production of Legally Blonde Jr. in November at FSHS.