The Arts For Life nominations were announced, and four of our very talented St. Dominic Crusader Players were nominated. This is a huge achievement, and everyone here at St. Dominic is so proud of our students, and can’t wait to see who will take home the win in their respective categories. 

Arts For Life is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to healing the power of the Arts through its work with the youth of the St. Louis area. Every year they put together a list of nominees for their annual Best Performance Awards, where they honor everyone’s unique talents that they bring to the art of theater. 

Over the summer, we were entered in the Arts For Life Best Performance Award Event, and we received our nominations for our summer show Seussical: The Musical. The nominations that were received are Alex Edwards in the part of Horton, for Best Youth Lead Actor, Ella Schmitz in the part of Gertrude, for Best Youth Lead Actress, Cameron Schwent in the part of the Mayor’s Wife, for Best Youth Supporting Actress, and Madison Miller, for Best Youth Set Design. 

The nominees are chosen out of a 35 mile radius of St. Louis Missouri, and with that big of a pool, having three nominees chosen by theater critics, voice teachers, members of community theater groups, and more, was quite impressive. The nominations give our students a chance to be seen by professionals in their field of theater, and open them up to new and exciting opportunities. 

“You know, it goes to show that you just gotta put in your all for every single show, because you never know who’s going to be there and what opportunities might come out of them being there,” Junior Cameron Schwent said. 

At first, our nominees here at St. Dominic were confused by their nominations, because during the show, no one was told that they were entered for Arts For Life. When the nominations were posted on Instagram, it came with quite a pleasant surprise. 

“I did not expect to be nominated. While I put everything I had into the role, I didn’t know that there was someone watching, and judging me,” Junior Alex Edwards said. 

With three nominations, everyone was very excited for our Crusader Players. The support from the community was immense, and everyone was lifting them up for their unique talents, and attributes they bring to St. Dominic.

“I was just super thankful that I got the part to really show my creativity and talents to get this award in the first place,” Junior Ella Schmitz said. 

No matter win or lose, everyone is so very proud of our Crusader Players. This is a big achievement, and St. Dominic can’t wait to see where you go from here. If you want to go support your fellow Crusaders, the awards show is on June 30th, at Kirkwood High School in the Keating Theater.