Eagles, Mustangs among contenders for Tommy Tune Awards in theater

Robert Price, a best-actor nominee from last fall's musical at Cypress Falls High School, will perform at the ninth annual Tommy Tune Awards, and he and six other finalists from Cypress Falls and Cypress Woods high schools hope to hear their names called as winners.

Sponsored by Theatre Under the Stars, the event will honor achievements in 15 categories with 45 entries from Houston-area schools. It is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St., Houston.

Price was cited for his role as William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

"Honestly, I'm surprised, and it makes me really sad because I truly believe that our cast deserved more nominations," Price said.

"Honestly, I'm surprised, and it makes me really sad because I truly believe that our cast deserved more nominations," Price said.

The show, presented last October, also claimed nominations for scenic design and senior Lesley Zimmer's choreography.

Cypress Ranch's production of Hairspray last November was nominated for best supporting actress -Kayla Bauer as Velma Von Tussle, choreography, lighting design and crew and technical execution.

Each winner will get 30 seconds to make an acceptance speech in the ceremony modeled after the Tony Awards on Broadway.

"I'll probably outline something just in case," Price said.

If he wins, TUTS will sponsor him in the Jimmy™ Awards in June at the National High School Musical Theater Awards in New York City.

Price said his ambition is to join Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe.

"I started on the improvisational Comedy Sportz high school team," said Price, a 17-year-old senior who chose theater over band when he was a freshman. "In my sophomore year, we did The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and I played Satan."

In Cypress Woods musicals, Price was Prince Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress and Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum before being cast last spring as Barfée. During the summer, he said, "I had to find a way to sing in a slightly

About his co-directors, Cypress Falls' mother-daughter team of Sherry Frank and Rachel Seney, and the show's musical director, Glenn Sharp, Price said, "They're really the best around. I'm very loyal and thankful to them."

At the awards show, Price will join the eight other leading actor nominees to perform in a medley.

Two students from each school will perform in the finale. Representing Cypress Falls will be Kali Potter and Ryan Rebagay. Cypress Ranch will send seniors Bauer and Ethan Santo, who played Wilbur, to participate in the Tommy Tunes program. In addition to being an acting nominee, Bauer was the student choreographer. Bethany Eggleston and Trevor Strahan will represent Cypress Woods High School in the finale.

"She probably worked harder than anybody in the whole show because there would be a lot of choreography, then a couple of lines, then a lot of choreography, then a couple of lines," said Cy Ranch theater director Jane Bankston.

A team of 35 Houston-area theater professionals chose the nominees, and a committee considered 42 students for eight scholarships to be awarded by TUTS.

Among this year's presenters will be Tommy Tune, the Lamar High School graduate for whom the awards are named and winner of nine Tony Awards, and Logan Keslar, who attended the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre at TUTS and performs in Broadway's revival of La Cage Aux Folles.