This article is from the January 2012 issue of KC Stage
The Cappies has now been alive and well in Kansas City for a decade. Since the program started with just five schools in the region, it has grown to not just include the KC metro, but to help launch chapters in Springfield, St. Louis, and also a mid-Missouri chapter as well.
When the Cappies was launched in KC, the program was only two years old. Since then, the brain-child of Capitol Steps founder Bill Strauss has gone international, with chapters all over the US and Canada. Now Strauss' Millennials have grown up through the Cappies program and have gone out into the world to become actors, technicians, journalists, and patrons of the arts who were able to credit the Cappies for a piece of their training and motivation.
The Kansas City Cappies program took a survey of critics after their first year. Here's what they said: 79% said shows are getting better, 82% said shows are more exciting, 90% said they're learning to write better, 93% said they're learning more about theater, 100% liked seeing shows at other schools, and 100% recommend the Cappies to others.
A former Cappies critic from Westport High School, Alechia Williams, graduated from MU with her journalism degree a year ago and had this to say about the Cappies, "The Cappies allowed me to get rich experiences as a writer that I had no other way to get. I was able to enter my journalism program as a published writer. This allowed me to be able to get involved in more and different activities in college, because I already had that piece under my belt. The Cappies really opened the door for both my college life and my career!"
Seth Jones, a Raymore-Peculiar High School graduate won many of the Cappies' performance awards throughout his high school career. He now sits in first place for the online auditions for The Glee Project 2. Alex Herrera, from Grandview High School, also a multiple Cappie award winner and former critic, is now in rehearsals for his part in the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof. And the list of success stories just goes on and on!
This year's 10th anniversary Kansas City Cappies Gala will be held on May 26 at 7 pm, at Blue Springs South High School's Performing Arts Center.
The Cappies is open to any high school in the KC metro area, both private and public, and on both sides of the state line. They are a not-for-profit organization that would be pleased to have your support. Contact Beth Bloom Ocheskey at beth.ocheskey@cappies.com or call 816-589-0980 for more information.
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