Gretna High School was named State Champion for the 29th time in school history at the NSAA Class A Play Production Championship in Norfolk on Friday, Dec. 13, with their show “The Drowsy Chaperone.” This came after a two-year drought. GHS received third place in 2023 and was named runner-up in 2022, which broke an eleven year win streak that GHS originally held.
“I was shocked,” junior Mia Onwiler said. “There was, like, a moment of silence before anyone started clapping, because (once) Gretna East heard Gretna they started standing up excited, because they thought it was them. And we thought it was them too.”
GHS earned 180 points out of 180 possible, which they did previously in 2019 and 2020 and several other years under the direction of Carole Caraher. One Act judging is opinion based and the scores between judges can differ greatly.
“One of the judges gave all three top schools 60 points,” Onwiler said. “Then the judges just have to rank them and pick their favorite.”
The Dragons’ state win was in addition to receiving the District A-3 Title, which qualified them for performing and competing in the state championship.
GHS competed in the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament (EMC) on Nov. 25, taking runner-up to Gretna East. The Griffins came in third place at State behind second place Lincoln East, the District A-1 Champions.
“We cut some things, some scenes to make the show shorter so we could fit in the time requirement,” junior Mallory Suggit said. “We didn’t want to lose State because of going over time.”
The NSAA website is a testament to the impressive history GHS has in One Act, with their records boasting 32 Outstanding Performer Awards and the fact that they’ve qualified for the State competition every year since 1986. This year’s cast included numerous talented freshmen with several of them holding important roles, including Lake Hecox, Joey Onwiler and Liam Ruff.
“The One Act process was a lot of work,” Ruff said. “With all the practices and my change of lines, I had to put in all I could physically and mentally and had to be able to do what I did.
This was Brooke Meador’s first time head directing a State champion show. She began directing Gretna High One Act in 2022. Meador is also a GHS graduate who had a lot of success during her own time on stage. During her time in high school the Dragons were undefeated at State One Act.
“It feels so fulfilling,” Meador said. “It has made me feel really proud and happy with the work that all of the kids have put into this season, because they’ve worked harder than I think I’ve really seen a group of kids work, that I’ve worked with. They really took it on, and they made it their own. And our leaders were so positive the whole time.”
Because of freezing rain, all participating One Act students stayed an additional night in Norfolk and returned on Saturday.
“I feel really relieved that we won State because it finally feels like all our hard work and devotion and the long nights finally paid off,” Ruff said.
