The Wando Theatre program competed in a statewide competition at the Palmetto Dramatics Association (PDA). After months of preparation and hard work, Wando was able to pull off many awards including Chapter Select, which will advance them to nationals.
As part of the competition, theater students had to act in a one-act play as a whole group and each student had the option to submit their own individual pieces. Many theater students submitted a wide range of different pieces to show off their talents. Specifically, senior Dominic Weiss stood out for his multiple awards, making him a key member of the group.
“I put in two contrasting monologues and a musical theatre piece … and the whole clean sweep thing was that I won them all,” Weiss said.
In addition to the Superior awards that Weiss won, Wando Theatre as a whole also received a Superior, the highest ranking award, as a whole group for their one-act performance of “Day Six.”
“It was awesome,” Weiss said. “I’ve been with this program since my freshman year and I mean it was a great feeling to be there with everyone and celebrate, especially because, as far as I know, this was the first time this has happened at Wando, so the energy there was just electric.”
The win was especially meaningful to Weiss because of all the preparation that went into it.
“Weeks leading up I just started listening to my song and running through my monologues at just random times,” Weiss said. “And [Wando Theatre teacher Clyde] Moser helped a lot, sometimes I would go into his room during lunch and he would give me constructive criticism, which was very helpful.”
Junior Gianna Tringali is a fellow member of the Wando Theatre program and a friend of Weiss’.
“Dom is one of the most locked-in people I know,” Tringali said. ”Anytime I would ask him to hang out it was always, ‘I can’t right now, I need to work on my lines for ‘Day Six,’ so he always puts work first and then he can go out and have fun.”
Many students, including Tringali, recognize Weiss as an important leader to the team.
“If anyone asks a question, we can all go to Dom,”Tringali said. “He is just a really positive and fun leader who tries to make everything enjoyable for everyone.”
Weiss also mentioned what being a leader in theater means to him.
“I mean, it means everything,” Weiss said. “Having gone through this program for four years, I’ve seen three different classes of seniors who’ve all inspired me to do better so to be able to give that same example to people in the classes below is so cool.”
Being a key player in the theater program, Weiss recognizes the team effort and is appreciative toward all that the program has given him.
“This program has grown so much and just the culture in it is awesome,” Weiss said. “I think I’ve learned from [previous theater seniors] just to be friendly to everyone because you never know who your best friend is going to be.”
