The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) held their annual Bobby G awards to showcase achievements in high school theater from the past year on Friday, May 17. This year, Creek was nominated for awards in thirteen categories, from direction to hair and makeup styling.
Senior Alec Doherty and directors Alex and Emily Burkart received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Creek’s musical, “Chicago: Teen Edition,” which was performed in early March.
“[Thank you to] Cherry Creek High School for not only being my alma mater, but now a place that enables me and my husband Alex to create remarkable art with some of the kindest and most dedicated students you will ever meet,” Emily Burkart said during her acceptance speech.
For Emily Burkart, the opportunity to work on “Chicago” was something she’d wanted to do for a long time. “I’ve loved “Chicago” since I was a little girl,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to play Roxie Hart but I was told I was too young. So I’m really lucky that I got to teach a 17-year-old how to do it.”
Every year, the Bobby G awards seek to honor and amplify the creations and productions in high school theater. Created by former DCPA President and Broadway Director Randy Weeks in 2013 and named for former DCPA President Robert Garner, the program allows schools from across the state to gather feedback and be nominated for prestigious awards for their theater productions.
This year, 51 schools participated in the program, and had their productions reviewed by Bobby G adjudicators.
Schools from all over Colorado, each with varying levels of funding, received nominations and awards for categories like lighting design, costume design, chorus, as well as achievement in leading and supporting roles. This year, ThunderRidge High School student Gabi Karl, and Woodland Park High School student Caleb Kezeor were chosen for the Bobby G award for Outstanding Achievement in a Leading Role.
All nominees for the leading role category participated in a group medley with the previous year’s winners, performing one group song at first, and then performing a solo from each of their school’s productions afterwards.
Karl, who was awarded for her performance as Janis in “Mean Girls: High School Edition,” spoke on how her involvement in theater provided her with an avenue for self expression and a sense of community. “Take that avenue and explore that passion, because you will find your family,” she said.
The five schools that were all nominated for the Bobby G award for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, a category that honors the complete production of a school’s musical, also performed snippets of their shows throughout the night.
Creek students performed “And All That Jazz” from “Chicago” for the audience alongside other performances like Denver North High School’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and ThunderRidge high school’s “Fearless.”
Despite only winning in one category, Creek students celebrated throughout the night, cheering loudly whenever their nominations were called. Doherty, who worked as the associate director during “Chicago,” spoke to the individual work that everyone had done for the show was what made the production so special.
“Without the contributions and efforts of everyone, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we did,” he said. “I would like to specifically thank Mr. Alex and Mrs. Emily [Burkart] for working incredibly hard. And I’d like to thank Mrs. Sonji and Nat Wilkes for how they kept Cherry Creek high school’s production together.”
See moments from the Bobby G’s below.
