Bethel High School Musical Wins Big at 2019 Halo Awards

BETHEL, CT — Bethel High School's production of "Footloose the Musical" won the top prize, for best contemporary musical, at the 2019 Halo Awards on Tuesday.

The annual awards ceremony honors the best in high school theater in Connecticut. It was held over three nights at Waterbury's Palace Theater.

For Bethel's musical theater program, this was hitting it out of the park in their first time at bat. Although BHS's drama program had competed in the Halo awards before, this was the musical side's initial foray into competitive theater.

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard," is how Crystal Morgan, the production's director, described the Bethel edge. "And we are fortunate enough to have both: kids who are talented, and who also work very, very hard."

Not only is there talent, they have a young team. Riley Finn, the freshman who played the lead role of Ren McCormack in the show, was nominated for best lead actor in a contemporary musical. He didn't win that, but the Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, who have been presenting the Halos for sixteen years, were so impressed by his performance that they singled Finn out for a special "up and coming" award.

"To have a freshman bring home a Halo means so much to our program," said Cris Olexy, president of the Bethel High School Theater Boosters non-profit organization. She takes particular pride in Bethel High School's role of giant-slayer.

"We're such a small school, competing against such big ones," Olexy said. "We made this happen with very little funding." She hopes that the high school bringing home some Halos will draw the attention of some local businesses whose contributions to its musical theater are critical.

The Halos also nominated the work of Bethel's Joe Bagala for best choreography, and senior Brian Salvador for best supporting actor in a contemporary musical. The cast and crew also won nominations for best dancing, best chorus, best run crew, and best stage management.

For Morgan, who is a graduate of Bethel High School and a product of its theater program, winning the Big One in her first competitive outing is particularly sweet. But won't that first time success amp up the pressure for the 2020 musical?

Evidently not.

"We don't do shows for awards," Morgan said. "This was a great feather in our cap, I am very proud of the kids, but the thing about theater is that it is not about getting a prize at the end, it's not about bringing home a trophy, it's about putting your heart into something and being proud of what it is that you do."