A group of Denver students is taking high school drama to the next level.
The Denver School of the Arts is one of only 11 schools in the nation chosen to perform on the main stage at the — the world’s largest festival of its kind — starting June 20 at the University of Nebraska.
Shawn Hann, director of the Denver School of the Arts, said this is one of the highest honors a school can receive.
“This year we are one of five shows on the Lied Mainstage venue that seats 2,500 students, and we perform twice so the entire … audience sees the show,” Hann said.
The students will be performing “Spring Awakening.” Hann called it “a controversial show that not many high schools do, especially without censorship.”
The rock musical was inspired by the Columbine High School shooting, Hann said, and is a coming-of-age story that deals with sexual awakening and societal issues affecting teens.
To be selected for the honor, two judges came to watch and score the students perform in October and rated them as superior in several categories, including music, sets, make-up and character commitment.
The students will hold a fundraiser June 18 and will perform “Spring Awakening” at the Denver School of the Arts’ Schomp Theatre.
