Theatre Program Earns 16 Halo Award Nominations

Congratulations to the cast and designers of the fall play, Silent Sky, and the winter musical, Urinetown, who together have been nominated for a total of 16 Halo Awards, including eight individual Best Performance nominations and Best Contemporary Play.

The Halo Awards are hosted by Seven Angels Theatre and celebrate the best in Connecticut High School Theatre. This year’s nominees were selected from productions by more than 88 participating high schools. The awards will be presented at red carpet events on May 28-30 at the historic Palace Theatre in Waterbury. The Frederick Gunn School’s nominees will attend the awards ceremony on May 30 at 7 p.m. Taylor Sall’25 and Poppy Mand ‘27 will perform “Follow Your Heart” from Urinetown.

"We are excited to receive 16 Halo nominations -- a new record for the Frederick Gunn School Theatre Program," said Kent Burnham, Director of Theatre Arts. We received nominations for individual acting, design, and production on the whole. That is a testament to our theatre program, our students, and their dedication to creating a strong ensemble in everything we do.

Congratulations to all of our nominees:

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play:
Taylor Sall ’25 as Margaret Leavitt in Silent Sky

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Contemporary Play:
Sonia Romanenko ’24 as Peter Shaw in Silent Sky

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Play:
Shannon McCormack ’25 as Willamina Fleming in Silent Sky

Best Costume Design and/or Execution:
Chensu Wang ’26 & Joanna Jin ’24 for Urinetown

Best Hair and/or Makeup Design and/or Execution:
Willa Regan ’27 for Silent Sky

Best Lighting Design and/or Execution:
Katherine Aguirre-Felipe ’26 for Silent Sky

Best Sound Design and/or Execution:
Katherine Aguirre-Felipe ’26 & Jade Vu ’25 for Silent Sky

Best Scenic Design and/or Execution:
Aryel Sealey ’25, Drew McKessey ’26, Aniah Sam ’27 & Oliver Severino ’27 for Silent Sky

Best Incidental or Original Music in a Play:
Katherine Aguirre-Felipe ’26 for Silent Sky

Best Contemporary Play:
Silent Sky

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:
Ezekiel Hatcher ’25 as Old Man Strong/Hot Blades Harry in Urinetown

Best Props Design:
Giovanna Liu ’24, Katherine Aguirre-Felipe ’26 & Jade Vu ’25 for Urinetown

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Musical:
Taylor Sall ’25 as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown

Best Performance by a Couple or Dynamic Duo in a Musical:
Colin Hall ‘24 & Siena Castonguay ’27 as Officer Lockstock & Little Sally in Urinetown

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Contemporary Musical:
Henry Abbate as ’25 Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Contemporary Musical:
Poppy Mand ’27 as Bobby Strong in Urinetown