WEATHERFORD — By Libby Cluett

Lone Star News Group

GARNER — Eight-year-old Stephanie Shaw went to the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta with a handful of her Garner ISD dramatic schoolmates and came home honored with the Freddie G outstanding individual female performing artist award.

“She played Annie and nailed the part,” said Principal Steve Wallace of Shaw’s role in the mini performance Garner students presented. “She’s extremely talented and so motivated.”

Shaw was one of nine Garner students, ranging from second to eighth graders, who took to the road for the invitation-only festival, Jan. 15-17, at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre. Wallace said the Garner cast performed a 15-minute montage of scenes from “Annie Jr.” before festival judges hailing from Disney Theatrical Productions, iTheatrics and Palo Alto Children’s Theater.

“These students set the scene with their staging and acting without costumes or scenery. Your whole heart was right with ‘Annie’ from the beginning, because the actress who played Annie was so convincing and charming,” said iTheatrics creator and master teacher Cindy Ripley, one of the judges.

Wallace, who accompanied the Garner cast and teachers to the festival, said he was impressed by how the students put together different scenes from the play into a 15-minute performance.

“They had to transition from being orphans to being servants in Daddy Warbucks’ house without a break,” he said. “It all had to be done while they were in the spotlight … and they did it flawlessly.”

The Garner cast presented the full production of “Annie Jr.” last May. This was Garner ISD’s first trip to the festival and its second year of developing its new performing arts program.

The students traveling to the festival included nine actors — Alex James, Haleigh Wallace, Tara Barton, Carrie Autry, Cort Beynon, Carryngton Steed, Stephanie Shaw, Kennedy Warren and Taylyn Grim — teachers Diane Shaw, Principal Steve Wallace and two additional parents.

Garner ISD music teacher/director Diane Shaw participated in a professional development course presented by iTheatrics last summer at Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, which Wallace said opened the door to the application process for entrance to the festival.

He explained that Garner ISD received an invitation when they bought the rights to “Annie Jr.” and went to the festival because they were curious. Once committed, he said the students worked to prepare and “had to learn what they had to do.”

Once they were at the festival, the Garner students “realized they were in the big league,” said Wallace. “It was a great story — the judges could tell we worked hard on this. They were more appreciative of our efforts to do it.”

At the festival, Garner students were in the company of specialized production groups with big budgets, magnet schools, after-school community groups and teams and instructors from major metropolitan areas, according to Wallace.

“What we got to experience — the acting, choreography and production level — was out of our league,” he said. “We got to see what they did to be great, [like] rehearse and being coached. We got to be in the same arena with them.”

“We had a ball, that was so good for them. We’re trying to differentiate our school by promoting arts,” Wallace said of Garner’s performing and visual arts programs.

“The judges were impressed by our enthusiasm and how we rose to the occasion,” he added. “It just proves that all kids have talent in some way. They can rise to the occasion no matter where they are and what they do. It was a really neat experience for our kids and made our school and our program look good.”

The Junior Theater Festival is the world’s largest musical theatre festival dedicated to groups working with elementary and middle school students. In addition to their performance, Garner students and teachers participated in interactive workshops led by Broadway and West End professionals and attended a professional production of “Annie.”

Garner’s Haleigh Wallace, 14, was named to the Broadway Junior All-Stars cast in her competition group, according to her father, Steve Wallace.

The younger Wallace and Cort Beynon, 10, the only boy in the Garner cast, were named as all-stars and were among a group of students who performed at the awards ceremony for all 1,700 attendees.

“They are extremely talented,” Wallace said of the students. “In two hours, they had to learn a new song and dance routine that was going to be performed the next day by all of the all star winners.”

“They had a motivated talented group of kids, but the New York performing artists were able to successfully coach, teach and impart this new song and dance routine to the students,” he added. “I was impressed most by the fact that they were able to pull it off — teach these kids this song and dance routine — in the span of less than 24 hours.”

The Junior Theater Festival is the world’s largest musical theater festival dedicated to groups working with elementary and middle school students and this year’s festival was presented by Music Theatre International and hosted and produced by iTheatrics and Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars.

The Junior Music Festival contributed to this article.