Riley McCord, an 18-year-old senior at Sandy High School (SHS), noted that
the group he performed a scene from “Dames at Sea” with at the Feb. 4
Oregon Thespians Regional Acting Competition had some anxiety before
taking the stage in front of the judges. But they didn’t let that stand in their
way.

“We all went on stage with a lot of charisma, and I think that won the crowd,”
McCord said. “It showed in our faces and our actions.”

It showed in their scores, too, propelling them to the state festival, to be held
April 6-8 at the Salem Conference Center and Elsinore Theatre in Salem. The
six students, part of 25 SHS sent to the regional competition, have already
got a start on polishing up their performances in anticipation of the next
round.

“We know it’ll go by pretty fast,” said McCord, who has gone to the state
competition three times before.

Sophomore Seriah Vulgas, 15, added the group’s success at the regional
competition stemmed from some all-day rehearsals, but that she’s also
already feeling the nerves for the Salem performance.

“I’ve never done something like this before,” she said. “I think we’re just
going to continue to work on perfecting it.”

Most of the cast is also preparing for the high school’s spring production of
Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” directed by McCord and set to open later in
April, but sophomore Gina Hillstrom noted that because the competition group
already put in so much work, working on their scene shouldn’t cause a
conflict.

“I think it’ll be pretty easy to handle,” said Hillstrom, 15. “It’ll definitely take
some balancing and time management, but it’ll happen.”

McCord and Began Godfrey, a 17-year-old junior, will also head to the state
competition for their duo dramatic scene from “Only Kidding,” by Jim
Geoghan.

“We’ve got a lot going on,” McCord said. “Hopefully we’ll be competitive at
state.”