By Lily Hill ’17, Arts and Entertainment Section Editor
May 16th was Cincinnati Country Day’s first Thespian Society Induction Dinner run by Ms. Lisa Bodollo, the new head of the drama department. The International Thespian Society is an honorary drama organization for high schoolers involved in theater. Cincinnati Country Day School’s troupe number is 6833 and we had twelve new inductees this year. The new inductees are Monica Ma, David Yang, Maggie Miller, Priyanka Dama, Grace Gilbreath, Nick Jaccaci, John Joy, Madeleine Morales, Elliot Murley, Emily Ray, Zack Streit, and Haley Vaughan. Students inducted into the troupe in previous years were Teja Atluri, Maggie Bernish, Rodney Bethea, Kathryn Burress, Megan Campbell, Kayla Chisholm, Cooper Ebersbach, Frank Grossi, Carmelita Mays, Ben Paff, Elizabeth Pease, Donovan Salter, Schuyler Snell, Cameron Stewart, Anna Beyette, Taylor Boggs, Erica Glosby, Lily Hill, Kaylin Hoffman, Liz Keller, Mickey Masterson, Jeremiah May, and Hailey Spaeth. In order to be inducted into the society a student needs to be a sophomore that has participated in Country Day Theater.
This year’s dinner was drastically different from last years’. It was held in Keeler Theater with a pasta dinner before the ceremony. With singing performances by Ava Kellar ‘19 and Annabel Forman ‘19, the ceremony was very entertaining. Monologues performed by Nick Jaccaci ‘18 and Anna Beyette ‘17 displayed the importance of theater in the Country Day community. Ms. Bodollo called new inductees up one by one and handed them a nicely displayed certificate. Each new inductee stood at the front of the stage holding white candles and recited the Thespian Society pledge which goes as follows: “I promise to uphold / the aims and ideals of the International Thespian Society. / I am a student of theatre and excellence is my ideal. / I promise to perform my part as well as I can; / to accept praise and criticism with grace; / to cooperate with my fellow Thespians / and work for the good of the troupe; / and to share my love of theatre.” The addition of performances, candles, and reciting the pledge made for a more serious tone and added a sense of elegance to the dinner. Congratulations to Country Day’s new International Thespian Society Inductees of 2016!
