By Lana Hy

Staff Writer

Last Friday, the Gabrielino High School Drama department hosted their 16th annual Murphy Awards from 7-9 p.m. in the Gary E. Goodson Theatre. Gluskin created the Murphy Awards to honor students who were elected in categories ranging from best actor and actress to most outstanding members of the chorus. The event was free and anyone who has seen all three plays throughout the school year was permitted to vote.

Seniors Sharenne Gozal and Damon Shugart won best actress and actor in a supporting role. Senior Benson Hong and junior William Tantribeau were tied for best actor in a drama, while senior Yasmin Miranda won best actress in a leading role.

Gozal and junior Henry Wilson were elected best actress and actor in a comedy role. Hong won best first performance for actors, and sophomore Nicole Tanaka earned best first acting experience for actresses.

“To me, earning a Murphy Award means that people believed that I could successfully perform on stage without fail,” said Tanaka.

The most outstanding members of the chorus included freshmen Hoang Nguyen and Elijah Ramirez. Senior Caitlyn Go and sophomore Christa Looc from won best featured performance.                       

The best song presented in a musical was “Look for the Silver Lining” sung by sophomore Alexia Salazar. “Miss Nelson is Missing” was voted the best show out of all plays performed this school year.

Senior Nisa Alam and junior Michael Moreno won best actress and actor in a musical.

“[The reason why I am] in drama is for the arts and crafts,” stated Alam. “Winning an award [was] just a bonus and really unexpected.”

Senior Damon Shugart earned best student director, and sophomore Ana Huynh received the Fancy Foot Award for being the best dancer.

The Mercer Award, for a faculty member outside of Drama, was dedicated to Chris Murphy, a teacher’s aid in the special education department.

Moreno and Wilson were also announced as the Drama co-presidents for the incoming school year during the awards.

The co-presidents were decided among Gluskin along with current senior co-presidents, Alam and Miranda. They chose who they thought were most committed to Drama and would be the most successful leaders.

Aside from awards and the president announcement, a senior moment was conducted which acted as their farewell for finishing their high school drama career.

Additionally, Gluskin announced that the incoming school year will be her last year at Gabrielino after 23 years as the drama director.

“Leaving Gabrielino is going to be very difficult, [especially since] I [was the first to] create and direct the drama program here,” revealed Gluskin.