Broadway has the Tony Awards, and high school theater has the Apollo Awards. Presented by the Hershey Theatre, the Apollo Awards have been recognizing outstanding achievement by local students in their musical and play productions since 2008.

This year, students from Donegal Performing Arts won multiple awards at the May ceremony, including Outstanding Play for the fall production of "Clue." Landis Cramer won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Wadsworth in "Clue." Additionally, Jered Mackison was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for his performance of Mr. Green, and Hannah Slobozien was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Mrs. Peacock. Erin Kready was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play for the role of Yvette in "Clue" and earned an honorable mention for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance of Princess Winnifred in "Once Upon a Mattress," the Donegal spring musical. Two students were also nominated for Spirit of Theatre awards at the event. Autumn Sauder was honored for the fall play, and Samantha Redinger was recognized for the spring musical.

As Erin explained, director Brianna Wilhelm submitted the shows to be evaluated for the awards. "The evaluators come to the show and score our performance," she stated.

Added Jered, "We don't know which performance they come to, so that helps us put the best show forward each and every time we perform."

Wilhelm found out in February about the honors for "Clue" and learned of the "Once Upon a Mattress" nomination just weeks before the ceremony. "I was overcome with pride for these students," she said. "'Clue' was my first show directing at Donegal and my first experience getting to know these students and their talents and skills. I'm really proud of them."

Hannah said when she found out she'd been nominated, she was excited, like all of her castmates. "I screamed and ran around my house," she recalled. "I half lost my voice." Her enthusiasm continued at the ceremony. "I didn't win, but when Landis won, we all freaked out, and when the show won, we were all hugging each other and jumping up and down. It was really cool to be able to represent our school, and it was a really exciting moment for Donegal."

At the ceremony, all of the nominees performed, Landis said, noting that the venue added to the evening's excitement. "It was really cool to stand on the Hershey Theatre stage and perform," he said. He recalled that he had confidence that the show would win. "I think we all did such a good job," he said, but he wasn't expecting to be singled out. "After a I saw the monologues from my colleagues who performed at the awards, I didn't think I had a chance. When they said my name, for a brief moment I had some confusion, and it took a while for my body to catch up with me. I felt a mixed bag of disbelief, happiness and pride."

Wilhelm noted that in addition to a trophy, winners received a monetary reward. "Part of the initiative of the program is to give students exposure to scholarships as well, because they participated in the Apollo Awards," she stated.