Announcing the 2019-2020 Varsity Lakerettes!
Lauren Arnold-Wahler
P.J. Brown
Neeley Delamata (Captain)
Mariyah Dhanani (Co-Captain)
Sophia Elkhander
Jayson Goldner
Megan Hauck (Secretary)
Arielle Josephs
Maria Leitao
Haley Park (Social Media)
Jodi Sniffin
Maya Tharoo
Silvana Toledo
Annie Townsend (*Historian)

Congratulations to Shanthi Ramakrishna for earning this year’s Senior Fine Arts Award! Shanthi was nominated by members of the Fine Arts Faculty.

In the words of Ms. Hadley, "Shanthi is a gifted dancer, visual artist, and musician. Her growth and improvement in these disciplines are due to her dedication and perseverance. She is a risk taker, a leader, and a respected student not only in the fine arts but throughout the WPS community. I have always compared her to dance legend Martha Graham and told her she would end up President of the United Nations due to her kind and caring heart. She is a gift to WPS and I know all of us who were blessed to teach her will miss her. "

We appreciate Shanthi’s many efforts in making the WPS Fine Arts programs what they are today and wish her the very best in all of her endeavors.

WPS Students had the opportunity to work with Ronnie Bowman, Jr. a cast member for the touring production of Anastasia and a teaching artist with Broadway Connection.

Ronnie S. Bowman, Jr. (Ensemble, Von Rothbart). National Tour: A Chorus Line (directed by Baayork Lee). NY/Regional: West Side Story (Bernardo), 25th Annual…Spelling Bee (Mitch), A Chorus Line(Richie), Kristin Chenoweth, My Love Letter to Broadway (Lunt-Fontanne Theater), Hair to Hamilton (Delacorte Theater). BFA, The Hartt School ’17.

Thank you to the Fine Arts Boosters for providing another educational and exciting opportunity for our fine arts students.

It is with extreme pride for me to announce that the Dr. Phillips Applause Awards have selected three of our students as winners in four total categories. This is a huge honor for our students and school as these are the “Tony’s” of musical theatre for all of central Florida.

Jackson Rifenberg, from our 4th-grade class, earned Outstanding Young Performer for performing the role of Twin 1 in our all-school production of Peter Pan.

Abigail Cheslock, from our 8th- grade class, earned Outstanding Young Performer for performing the role of Wednesday Addams in our middle/high school production of The Addams Family.

Alex Sheffield, from our 11th-grade class, is the first time recipient from our school to be a double Applause Award Winner. Alex has won the Outstanding Performance in Dance Award for her role as an Ancestor in The Addams Family. Additionally, Alex won the Outstanding Lead Performer Award for her role as Peter in Peter Pan. By being selected as an outstanding lead performer, Alex is now eligible to audition for a spot as Orlando’s female representative to the Jimmy Awards in New York City. If selected as Orlando’s representative, Alex would be competing with high school musical theatre students from around the country and have the opportunity to make her Broadway debut at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City.

These students will be honored at the Applause Awards Ceremony on June 1st at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. Alongside our honorees, graduating Laura Campos and sophomore Sophia Bresciani have been invited to perform in the opening number. We look forward to seeing these students shine on the stage of the Walt Disney World Theatre. This year, these award winners cap off a banner year for our theatre arts department. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Thank you for your continued support of the fine arts department!

Through the generous support of our Fine Arts Boosters, we are pleased to sponsor a Broadway Connection Master Class in the style of Anastasia with Kourtney Keitt! Kourtney currently resides in NYC and received her B.A. in Dance as well as Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College. This is an intermediate level workshop and will take place on Saturday, May 18, 9:00-11:00 am at the Cypress Center for the Arts. Thank you, Fine Arts Boosters, for making this happen!