Isabella Madrigal, (‘20) and Sophia Madrigal, (‘22) named winners of the Dragon Kim Foundation Challenge for their project, Native Storytelling, from which Isabella’s play, Menil and Her Heart was derived. The $5,000 award will foster continued development and performances of the play, which brings to light the contemporary issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Isabella was featured on the Today Show as a National Gold Award Girl Scout before appearing at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City for the 2019 International Day of the Girl Summit. She spoke out against violence against Indigenous women and girls, shared Native Storytelling’s part in this advocacy (including her play, Menil and her Heart) and called global leaders to action. Watch here. 

Several Acting Conservatory students including Sophia Del Rey ('21), Jacob Ferguson ('22) and Grace Wilcox ('22) are in the Voices of Hope Children's Choir, which has been featured on "America's Got Talent." Sophia is a soloist in the choir,

Hannah Franklin ('19) took first place at the regional finals of the prestigious August Wilson Monologue Competition at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In addition to receiving scholarship awards and participating in master classes to workshop her monologue, Hannah received an all-expense paid trip to New York to compete in the national finals at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway.

More than 50 Acting Conservatory who participated this year in Shakespeare Orange County's two summer workshops:

The Youth MIDSUMMER project with Theater Seoul and The Shakespeare Intensive with critically-acclaimed actors and directors from Los Angeles.

Sara Tomadon (‘17) is the Soroptimist International “Woman of the Year” Award! Each year, the Soroptimist International of Santa Ana/Tustin gives us the opportunity to recognize our amazing young women through their monthly Young Woman of Achievement luncheons, where they honor a senior student from each of the 15 high schools in Santa Ana and Tustin.

Hannah Franklin ('19) was a Grand Prize Finalist in the Acting category at the Los Angeles Music Center's Spotlight competition. She received a $5,000 scholarship and performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the Spotlight Grand Finale Performance. 

The following students acted and sang as professional interns in Shakespeare Summerfest Orange County's production of As You Like It:

Adrian Barron (‘16), Kyle Bode (‘16), Tisha Custodio (‘19), Jeremy Garcia (‘16), Trevor Hart (‘18), Timmy Hughes (‘16), Abby Matzke (‘19), Tatum Meyhoever (’18), Jessica Odishoo (‘20), Julia Risk (‘18), Griffin Runnels (‘16), Noah Strattan (‘20), Josh Sepetjian (‘16), Marty Williams (‘16)

Daniel Zolghadri (‘18) was in Steven Spielberg's new movie Ready Player One and was voted the Orange County Register's Varsity Arts Artist of the year 2017! He also recently starred in Bo Burnham's hit film Eighth Grade and the HBO film Fahrenheit 451.