Pope John Players collect honors

After their 2023-24 fall and spring performances of “The Crucible” and “Pippin,” Pope John XXIII Regional High School’s theatre company, the Pope John Players, have been showcasing their talents in multiple state and regional competitions.

On April 22, they performed excerpts from both shows at the 56th annual Bucks County Student Theater Festival in New Hope, Pa.

The Bucks County Student Theater Festival is a multi-week celebration that showcases talented students from schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. During the festival, students perform on the historic stage, take workshops to develop their knowledge, and receive feedback from theater professionals.

After the workshops, the Pope John Players presented two 20-minute montages from “The Crucible” and “Pippin.” They earned five awards: Best Musical Ensemble and Best Dramatic Ensemble; junior Hannah Peterson received the Triple Threat Award for outstanding singer/actor/dancer; junior Bella Metternich, sophomore Lily Nugnes and freshman Nora Marino received a Spotlight Award for their performance as the Manson Trio; and the entire cast received the Best Range of Ability Award for such widely varying productions.

The Pope John Players will represent Sussex County at the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival on Tuesday, June 4 at Middlesex Community College after qualifying in the Sussex County Teen Arts in March.

At the county event, the Pope John Players were selected to represent the state competition in the categories of Large Musical Theatre for their production of “Pippin.” Also, juniors Anya Pucci and Ben Nascimento and freshman Nora Marino were honored for their Chorus Line Montage in Small Musical, and juniors Quinn Muli and Samantha Kemp and senior Marco Concha were honored for their production of “The Crucible” in Small Dramatic Theatre. Junior Cooper Randall won in Monologue for “Death of a Salesman;” Hannah Peterson and Isabella Metternich for Gaelic Lament for Small Vocals; and Lily Nugnes for Solo Dance.

The Pope John Players also received an honorable mention in the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for the Manson Trio in “Pippin.”

Director Jacquelyn Burt said, “I am always proud of my PJ Players but the level of talent they went up against this year was truly amazing. To emerge with the accolades they did in every venue they entered demonstrates the talent, teamwork and resilience of these amazing students.”