Triple Threat Award Winners Angela Steele and Davis Brinker
Announced at SpotLight Showcase

MINNEAPOLISHennepin Theatre Trust announced today that Angela Steele from the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and Davis Brinker from Washburn High School in Minneapolis, students in the SpotLight Musical Theatre Program, were named the Triple Threat Award Winners at the ninth annual SpotLight Showcase. The two-night event honored students from 67 Minnesota high schools for excellence in musical theatre at the Orpheum Theatre on Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9. Steele and Brinker, as triple threat students, not only excel in singing, dancing and acting but also demonstrate leadership, teamwork, strong artistic choices and a focus on community. The two were chosen from among 12 finalists after a vigorous series of auditions and evaluations.

SpotLight is the Trusts flagship educational initiative which honors and supports Minnesota high school musical theatre programs and students. Minnesota native, Broadway star and two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes is the 2014 SpotLight spokesperson.

Steele and Brinker earned an all-expenses paid trip to New York courtesy of Hennepin Theatre Trust. They will receive singing and acting coaching, attend dance classes at Broadway Dance Center and meet with industry professionals about the entertainment business. They will also participate in a private audition with Telsey+Company, a leading casting agency in New York, and see several Broadway shows. Additionally, they will perform at Broadway Sessions at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, alongside Broadway performer Hannah Elless (Godspell), singing a song from For Tonight, a selection in this years New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Davis Brinker is a senior at Washburn High School where he has performed in many productions including Urinetown and Les Misérables. He has also performed at the Childrens Theatre Company in productions of Rent and Hair as part of their Theatre Arts Training program. He was also a member of the MacPhail Prelude program throughout high school.

Angela Steele is a senior at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (SPCPA) and is participating in the SpotLight Program for the first time this year. She performed the role of Edwin in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at SPCPA and also starred in Beauty and the Beast in School District 622s summer musical program. She moved to the United States three years ago from New Zealand where she performed in Chicago in her high school there.

The 2014 honorees were chosen from a group of 12 Triple Threat finalists: Emilee Hassanzadeh from Thomas Jefferson High School (Bloomington), Lexi Johnson from Benilde-St. Margarets (St. Louis Park), Abilene Olson from St. Francis High School, Naomi Ridley from East Ridge High School (Woodbury), Maddie Sell from Eagan High School, Danny Faber from Benilde-St. Margarets (St. Louis Park), Joshua Kiyee from Concordia Academy (Roseville), Ryan Haff from Maple Grove Senior High, Eli Newell from the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and Gabe Sell from Minnetonka High School.

SpotLight, sponsored by TCF Bank, provides world-class educational, performing and creative experiences that help students develop essential skills for success such as collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving and self-expression. In the program, students work with local and national theatre educators and Broadway musical theatre professionals who offer training, critical feedback, on-site school workshops and master classes.

HENNEPIN THEATRE TRUST, owner of the historic Orpheum, State, Pantages and New Century Theatres, is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to arts-inspired community cultural development. We achieve our mission by presenting a rich mix of live performances, creating inspiring arts education experiences and advancing a thriving Cultural District in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Trusts activities include presenting Broadway touring productions and the related Broadway Confidential series, concerts, comedy, speakers and other variety entertainment, plus educational initiatives including our SpotLight Musical Theatre Program and Critical Review, Teen Ushers, the Access Program and Family Day on Hennepin events.

The SpotLight Musical Theatre Program is made possible with support from TCF Bank. The SpotLight Showcase events are funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

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Dale B. Stark | Communications Manager
612.455.9537 | 612.562-5200 cell
Dale.Stark@HennepinTheatreTrust.org
615 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 140 | Minneapolis, MN | 55403
HennepinTheatreTrust.org