Private High School in Broward, Drama Program Receives Superior Ratings at State Festival
The Sagemont School Drama Production of Dracula received straight Superior ratings in all categories at Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa and has received numerous Cappies nominations.

WESTON, FL, April 23, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Sagemont Thespians recently performed at the Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa. The Mainstage production of Dracula received straight Superior ratings in all categories. Senior, Christopher Merlino was given a Superior rating for his monologues and additionally was acknowledged as one of ten recipients of a $1,000 scholarship. Sagemont students also received Superior ratings for other monologues and solo musical theatre.

None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the dedication and hard work exhibited by Elizabeth Garrard, Sagemont's drama instructor. Although this is only her second year at Sagemont, she is no stranger to theater. Since 1997, she has worked in professional theater, both on stage and behind the scenes. She has won awards for acting, playwriting and costume design, and has appeared on stage with many of South Florida's most prestigious theater and opera companies. She made her debut at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2008.

Garrard enjoys sharing her love of theater with her students. "Theater is not only a source of entertainment. It can be used as a tool for education, healing and history," she explains. "By exploring theater as an art form, students can develop their creativity, self-confidence, and cooperation skills, while at the same time developing a creative outlet and a connection to the human spirit."

Garrard served as President of the Board of Directors of the Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes from 2003-2006. During that time she started a children's theater company and developed an educational program. In the past five years she has taught classes at many different theater companies, the Lovewell Institute for Creative Arts and Broward County Schools.

This year, the Sagemont high school drama students presented Dracula, which was selected as a Mainstage Production for the 2011 Florida Thespian Festival. In addition, the students presented Flowers for Algernon as their spring production. Middle school students performed Face Value: A Priceless Musical. This piece was actually written last summer by Garrard and some of her students at the Lovewell Institute. "Thirty teenagers contributed to the brainstorming process for this play," she says. "We wanted to make a statement about greed and various motives one might have to commit a crime. We read a true newspaper article about a man who robbed a bank armed with only a bouquet of lowers, and decided this was stranger than fiction! We decided our plot would revolve around a bank robbery. The irony in this story is that the criminals are actually the good guys." The play was adapted to meet the needs of Sagemont's middle school drama program. Garrard says, "characters' names and genders were changed, and several characters were added in order to create more opportunities for our students."

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Maria Ackermann
The Sagemont School
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