Lauren Hannani staff writer
The BEVY Awards, an annual award ceremony for Theater Arts Workshop (TAW) students, took place in the Salter Theater last Friday, May 13, to reward student- actors for their hard work and dedication to the year’s plays.
Some prestigious awards of the night included TAW Member of the Year, which was given to seniors Tristan McIntyre and Austin Friedberg, the Herb Hall Dramatic Arts Award, given to senior Tyler Ridgle, and the Joel Pressman Musical Theatre Award, given to McIntyre and senior Isaac Spector.
“It’s a true honor to be awarded, since we all have worked so hard this year,” McIntyre said. “I’ve been involved in every theatrical production at Beverly this year as an actor, dancer, singer, writer and choreographer, and to have it acknowledged is a great feeling.”
Along with awards chosen by the faculty, some awards were of “student choice” and were voted for by any participating members of the student body. Some of the winners of this category are seniors Alex Smith, PJ Goolsby and Friedberg for their work in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and Owen Lloyd and Kyylexa Corday for their performances in the fall play “Fuddy Meers.”
“It felt amazing. I enjoy doing what I do on the stage, and to get awarded for something that I genuinely love doing is such a good feeling and unexpected, even,” Corday said. “It’s such an accomplishing feeling and I’m really grateful for all my peers for noticing the amount of effort I put into my work.”
One of the most memorable parts of the night was the appearance of former theatre teacher Herb Hall to announce the Herb Hall Dramatic Arts Award.
“[One of the best parts of the ceremony] was when Mr. Hall came out to support because he is the one who helped me find my love for acting and is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had,” McIntyre said.
Another emotional part of the night included the seniors’ goodbyes to the class and to the classmates they have grown close to during the past few years.
“I had fun the entire time but my favorite part was definitely hearing all my senior friends give their speeches,” Corday said. “Everything they said was so heartfelt and genuine, and it was such a great way to give tribute to all the seniors.”
Although this is their last year of performing in front of a high school audience, the seniors have cherished the plays they have been a part of and the memories they have made since day one.
“I’ve been in this department since my freshman year, so a lot of my memories come from the theater department and the people I’ve come to know because of it,” Corday said. “It’s definitely a bittersweet time, but I’ll be back to visit to see all the shows the underclassmen put on. I’m really excited for that!”