While you could have seen Gibraltar students clean up at the awards ceremony, their director stole the show at the 2023 State Theatre Festival over the weekend at the Weidner Center. Gibraltar Performing Arts Director Lizbeth Thomas was inducted into the Wisconsin Interscholastic Theatre Hall of Fame. Thomas also serves as the school’s forensics coach and high school musical director, but her students’ performances in One Acts under her direction have garnered the most attention. Of the 20 years of directing One Act, 18 qualified for the State Theatre Festival, garnering 51 awards. Most recently, The 2023 One Act Team troupe added to the long list of tenured accomplishments by earning 7 State Awards with their All in the Timing performance. State WISDAA Awards earned by the troupe included the Critics’ Choice Award, Ensemble Award, Technical Award, Directors Award, and three Outstanding Actor Awards. Senior Italia De La Torre, Sophomore Emerson Lecy, and Senior Bekka Porter earned Outstanding Actor Awards. 

Dating back to 1930, when the Hall of Fame was started, only 24 directors, including Thomas, have been inducted into the Wisconsin Interscholastic Theatre Hall of Fame.