The Sara Bareilles Awards, which recognize excellence in high school theater performance, held its first-ever ceremony on Sunday, May 18, at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco—and Encinal High School senior Emilia Arneson was among the nominees. Arneson earned an Outstanding Supporting Performer nomination for her role as Tanya in Encinal’s production of Mamma Mia this spring.
Arneson’s nomination was based on three adjudicators’ assessments of her performance focusing on character interpretation, character consistency, clarity and diction, vocal pitch and tonality, expression and artistry, and finally animation and energy.
Adjudicators visited thirty-two high schools across Northern California. Participating schools were from Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba counties.
Three adjudicators attended performances at each participating school on different nights. The programs were reviewed for overall production, lead actor, lead actress, and supporting performer. The first three categories had five nominations each, while the supporting performer category had 10 nominees.
The awards program is sponsored by BroadwaySF and ATG Entertainment. It feeds into the Jimmy Awards, the national high school thespian awards program. The winners of lead actor and actress from each regional awards show go to New York City to attend workshops with industry professionals and audition for the Jimmy Awards. Recent Jimmy Award winners include Andrew Barth Feldman and Eva Noblezada.
Like the Jimmy Awards, the regional Sara Bareilles Awards are judged by theater professionals, and nominees participate in workshops to build their skills in acting, singing, and dance. After a day of auditions, the nominees got to meet and have a Q&A with Sara Bareilles herself. This year’s judges for the Sara Bareilles Awards were Tony Gonzalez, Gary Stanford Jr., and Lauren Rosi. Theater pros leading the workshops were Ben Bogen, Janel Chanté, and Nicole Helfer.
Upon receiving the email notification of her Outstanding Supporting Performer nomination, Arneson’s reaction was one of surprise: “This is crazy.” She said that what she enjoyed about playing Tanya was her confidence. “It was just so fun.”
The challenging part, she added, was executing complicated choreography while singing, especially the lifts. When asked if there were any specific acting choices she made that helped her stand out, Arneson answered, “Heightened persona.” Characterization through body language, how Tanya moves, talks, even stands were all important in her portrayal.
Arneson grew up watching two older siblings who participated in theater and was offered opportunities to try it herself from a young age. For her, theater was where she found her people and a supportive environment to try new things and grow.
Arneson has participated in theater at Encinal High School and was one of the four seniors responsible for reviving the program post-pandemic. Additionally, she has performed with Alameda Community Learning Center high school drama. But by far, the biggest influence in her theatrical growth and passion came from Tomorrow Youth Repertory (TYR). Arneson commented on how lucky students in Alameda are to have such good training programs in addition to school programs, including TYR, Korsa Musical Theater, and American Conservatory Theater (ACT).
In the fall, Arneson will attend Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, pursuing a BA in theater, with an emphasis in acting. She hopes to be able to explore more facets of theater including scenic design, costume, stage make-up, and especially directing.
Before she heads off to college, though, she has two more performances lined up. She will be appearing in multiple numbers at Encinal High School’s Spring cabaret as well as directing a few. She is especially excited to perform in “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago and in “Goodbye” from Catch Me If You Can, a special number coordinated by EHS Drama seniors. Additionally, she will be appearing in her final TYR show as Toby in the summer production of Sweeney Todd in July.
While Arneson was not selected for the Outstanding Performer Award, the nomination, participation in the weekend’s workshops, and being recognized for her work are memories she will treasure. After a day of auditions, the nominees got to meet and have a Q&A with Sara Bareilles herself.
For the additional auditions, Arneson performed “Does Your Mother Know” from Mamma Mia with her Encinal castmate Marco Garcia. She also performed “The Life I Never Led” from Sister Act to offer dramatic contrast.
A contingency of other castmates, friends, and families also attended the awards ceremony to support Arneson. She said it was “the most amazing experience of my life.” She was bubbling with enthusiasm about the workshops, saying she learned so much, especially about storytelling while singing.
The whole experience reinforced how important the arts are, not just to herself, but to our community and our culture. As Arneson walks away from high school theater, she said, she is proud to have represented Alameda in the first Sara Bareilles Awards Ceremony and looks forward to continuing to learn and grow as an artist.
Kelly Rogers Flynt contributes features and reviews of theatrical productions to the Alameda Post. Reach her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Kelly-Flynt.
