Folsom High leads with 14 honors as Vista del Lago, Oak Ridge and Granite Bay add more strong showings
FOLSOM — Area high schools delivered an exceptional collective performance at this year’s Lenaea High School Theatre Festival, with Folsom High School leading the charge by bringing home a whopping 14 awards, while Vista del Lago, Oak Ridge and Granite Bay each added multiple honors to underscore the depth of theatre talent across the region.
Hosted annually at the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College, Lenaea is one of the largest and most respected high school theatre festivals on the West Coast. Drawing approximately 85 schools and more than 1,700 students from across California and beyond, the three-day event features competition in acting, musical theatre, student direction, script writing and technical theatre categories. It also includes professional-led workshops and interactive adjudication sessions, giving students immediate, personalized feedback from working theatre artists.
Folsom High School once again asserted itself as one of the region’s premier theatre programs, capturing 14 awards out of the 18 events it entered. Approximately 40 students represented Folsom in categories ranging from performance to design.
Senior Jovie Carr delivered one of the most remarkable individual runs of the festival. Competing in four distinct categories, Carr earned gold in every one — a rare and extraordinary accomplishment. She took gold in Original Script; gold in Scenic Design alongside Ben Reiman; gold in Duo Scenes with Emelyn Serrano; and gold in Individual Acting in a One Act. Her ability to excel as a writer, designer and performer in the same festival cycle highlighted her versatility and leadership within the department.
Carr’s festival sweep follows her work as student set designer for the fall musical “Descendants,” and she is set to play the lead in the upcoming spring production “Agatha Rex,” continuing her impact across multiple disciplines.
In the Original Script category, Carr earned gold while Rema Alduqmi brought home bronze recognition. Scenic Design proved particularly dominant for Folsom, with Andrew Warren and Sky Jones earning gold, and Carr and Reiman adding another gold distinction.
Folsom’s Costume Design entries produced three bronze awards, earned by Susannah Nieto; the team of Olivia Pannu and Olivia Cooper; and Kodi Bryan and Danica Scholz. In Musical Theatre, Jazmine Sulcer and Delaney Serrano each captured gold, while Laila Baum earned bronze honors.
Nathaniel Miller added a gold award in Student Director, and the Folsom High cast sealed its strong showing with a gold award for its One Act Play production of “Macbeth,” bringing the school’s final total to 14 awards.
Vista del Lago High School also posted a significant showing, earning six total awards across production, acting and design categories.
Vista’s one-act production of “A Trip to the Moon” earned a silver level award in One-Act Plays – Production. Alana Sequest received an Outstanding Performance award for her role in the production, further elevating the school’s recognition in the one-act division. In Student Direction, Bella Zelaya and Parmis Ranjbar earned silver level honors for their work guiding “A Trip to the Moon,” highlighting the program’s strength in leadership and creative collaboration.
In individual competition, Charlotte Foster-Davis earned a bronze level award in Monologues for “Shadows of My Mind.” Vista’s technical theatre accomplishments also stood out, as Bella Zelaya earned a gold level award in Costume Design for “I Am Frankenstein,” while Foster-Davis received a silver level award in Scenic Design for that production. The six combined honors reflected a balanced and multidimensional theatre program.
Oak Ridge High School added four awards of its own, demonstrating strong performances in acting and musical theatre.
Chloe Lynch earned a bronze level award in Monologues for “The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome.” In Duo Scenes, Drew Wilson and Izzy Bowers captured a silver level award for “Barbie and Ken” and were also selected for the Respondents’ Choice award, giving the duo two recognitions in the same category.
In Musical Theatre, Maya Shamp received the Respondents’ Choice award for her performance of “The Winner Takes It All” from “Mamma Mia,” bringing Oak Ridge’s total to four awards and highlighting its vocal and performance strength.
Granite Bay High School delivered one of the festival’s strongest one-act performances and earned seven awards overall, led by a dominant showing in the production category.
Granite Bay’s production of “Machinal” earned a gold level award in One-Act Plays – Production. Haleya Hoang received an Outstanding Performance award for her role in “Machinal,” and Peyton Wheeler secured gold level honors in Student Direction for the same production, sweeping major honors within the one-act division.
In Monologues, Peyton Chandler earned a bronze level award for “Eurydice,” and Niko Miniati was also listed with a bronze level entry for “Still Life.” In Musical Theatre, Reva Sikka earned bronze level recognition for “I’m Not Afraid Of Anything” from “Songs For A New World,” and Lydia Miller received bronze level honors for “Losing My Mind” from “Follies.”
Founded in 1956 and inspired by the ancient Greek Lenaea festivals, the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival began as an initiative of Sacramento State College — now California State University, Sacramento — to elevate high school theatre programs. Since becoming an independent nonprofit organization in 2012, Lenaea has remained rooted in Folsom, offering students competitive opportunity paired with hands-on education and direct mentorship.
Collectively, Folsom High’s 14 awards, Vista del Lago’s six honors, Oak Ridge’s four recognitions and Granite Bay’s seven awards underscored the remarkable strength of theatre programs across the region. From sweeping one-act productions and standout monologues to award-winning design work and musical theatre excellence, Folsom area students once again proved they can compete — and win — on one of the West Coast’s largest high school theatre stages.
Copyright © 2026, Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Folsom High School — 14 Awards
Original Script — Gold: Jovie Carr
Original Script — Bronze: Rema Alduqmi
Scenic Design — Gold: Andrew Warren & Sky Jones
Scenic Design — Gold: Jovie Carr & Ben Reiman
Costume Design — Bronze: Susannah Nieto
Costume Design — Bronze: Olivia Pannu & Olivia Cooper
Costume Design — Bronze: Kodi Bryan & Danica Scholz
Musical Theatre — Gold: Jazmine Sulcer
Musical Theatre — Gold: Delaney Serrano
Musical Theatre — Bronze: Laila Baum
Duo Scenes — Gold: Jovie Carr & Emelyn Serrano
Student Director — Gold: Nathaniel Miller
Individual Acting in a One Act — Gold: Jovie Carr
One-Act Play Production — Gold: Macbeth
Vista del Lago High School — 6 Awards
One-Act Plays – Production — Silver: A Trip to the Moon
One-Act Plays – Actor Award — Outstanding Performance: Alana Sequest (A Trip to the Moon)
One-Act Plays – Student Direction — Silver: Bella Zelaya & Parmis Ranjbar (A Trip to the Moon)
Monologues — Bronze: Charlotte Foster-Davis (Shadows of My Mind)
Costume Design — Gold: Bella Zelaya (I Am Frankenstein)
Scenic Design — Silver: Charlotte Foster-Davis (I Am Frankenstein)
Oak Ridge High School — 4 Awards
Monologues — Bronze: Chloe Lynch (The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome)
Duo Scenes — Silver: Drew Wilson & Izzy Bowers (Barbie and Ken)
Duo Scenes — Respondents’ Choice: Drew Wilson & Izzy Bowers (Barbie and Ken)
Musical Theatre — Respondents’ Choice: Maya Shamp (The Winner Takes It All from Mamma Mia)
Granite Bay High School — 7 Awards
Monologues — Bronze: Peyton Chandler (Eurydice)
Monologues — Bronze: Niko Miniati (Still Life)
Musical Theatre — Bronze: Reva Sikka (I’m Not Afraid Of Anything from Songs For A New World)
Musical Theatre — Bronze: Lydia Miller (Losing My Mind from Follies)
One-Act Plays – Production — Gold: Machinal
One-Act Plays – Actor Award — Outstanding Performance: Haleya Hoang (Machinal)
One-Act Plays – Student Direction — Gold: Peyton Wheeler (Machinal)
Copyright © 2026, Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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