MCHS walks away with three Cappies for The Sound of Music

by Stephen Dafoe

After receiving more than double the nominations this year for Sound of Music than they did last year for James and the Giant Peach, Morinville Community High School has walked away with three times the awards than they did in their first year.

The annual Cappies were held in Edmonton Sunday night at the Citadelle theatre. MCHS was the recipient of 23 nominations for their production of the Sound of Music.

When the winners were announced, the school’s production won three: The Sound of Music for Sets, Mariya Chvojka for Outstanding Female Vocalist, and Daphne Charrois for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. The latter award was Charrois’ second consecutive Lead Actress award.

“We are really excited about our results this year. We were really rooting for all our nominees, but the awards that we ended up taking home highlighted things that we were very proud of in our production,” Said MCHS Drama Teacher Vanessa King. “Mariya Chvokja singing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” to end the first act actually brought the audience to their feet for our first ever intermission standing ovation on opening night, her Cappie Award was such a nice reward for that accomplishment. So proud of her.”

King said the Sound of Music’s sets were another point of school pride. The sets were designed by Daphne Charrois and built by Jordan Imgrund-Harvey with help from MCHS teacher Kyle Coxen. They were rigged up by student Skylar Boissonnault.

“This was truly a student-led accomplishment and very worthy of the Cappie Award they received,” King said. “Our set, from the stained glass in the Abby to the curved staircase in the villa, to the dropping of three 14 foot Nazi banners, was a product of pure ambition and teamwork by our students, staff, parents and alumni volunteers. A real labour of love.”

King said she is thrilled that now MCHS graduate Daphne Charrois took her second consecutive Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical Cappie.

“[It] is such a perfect reflection of the work she has put into this program and into The Sound of Music,” King said. “Daphne was so committed to the production that the Cappies organization had to limit the amount of nominations she was eligible for, which is why her name didn’t appear in the Set nomination or the Costume nomination even though she was the set designer and undertook more costume quick changes than any other actor in the production.”

King went on to say Charrois’ award encompasses more than just her work in front of the audience, but rewards all of her behind the scenes work was rewarded as well.

“This is a young woman that understands the amount of work and passion required to be successful in this industry, and we wish her all the best of luck in New York where she’ll be studying musical theatre this fall at the American Musical & Dramatic Academy,” King said.

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