2010 Winter Classic @ Fullerton Union High School

[Nyjin]

It's in a little over a week, and from what entries have indicated, its going to be a decently sized tournament in the Southern California area!

130+ DIs
100+ OOs
90+ HIs
70+ Duos.

And, of course, the California Event Entries are pretty large as well.

Any Predictions? Whose Going? Who doesn't look forward to a one-day-long stressful tournament?

[tgjdlc]

First, the students I have going

Priscilla Gomez- DI (A Mighty Heart). She competed at the CSU Fullerton tournament a couple months ago, memorized her DI the night before the tournament and got 5th against some really good competition. She's also doing OO for the first time in her high school career. We'll see how this goes for her.

Shad Hicks- HI (Batman and Robin). He hasn't had this piece long, but has had it long enough to win a local tournament with straight ones. We'll see how he fairs against stiffer competition.

Shad Hicks and Jennifer Phillips- Duo (Souvenir). They just memorized this about 2 weeks ago. Their first time doing Duo (Jennifer's first ever tournament). both juniors. Would be nice to see them do well, they've worked hard on this piece.

As far as predictions:
In DI. If Schurr H.S. is going, and I'm not sure what schools are going, I predict that Jude Garcia (Incantation of Frida K.) will do well, semis at least.
Josh (?) Issler- he won CSU Fullerton with a **** good cut of "Flowers for Algernon"... maybe the flame has gone out. We'll see.

In HI. Tosh Alexander (Stye in the Eye...? I think). he's finaled at Long Beach and CSU Fullerton.
Nyjin- I'm sorry don't know your first name, but you just won Xmas Classic (SD)- congrats. I'm sure you'll have a great tournament here too.

Duo- Tosh Alexander and Oscar Fernandez (Alex and the Warrior) Won at Long Beach and CSU Fullerton. Finaled at GMU. They're almost a certain lock for finals.
I've not seen enough duos to tell you anymore.

Reading the schedule, and with how many rounds there are- I'm sure this day will be SO long. It's ok, I look forward to some really good competition.

Good luck to all who go.

[Jubanpride]

Hey it's Josh Issler, you don't have to worry about me at this competition. Got a local one the same weekend/school doesn't go to many invitationals.

In DI (If they go)
A Mighty Heart
Incantation of Frida K.
Breaking Through
Red God
When the Levees Break
One Last Day

Expect breaks to at least semis from each of these pieces.

[tgjdlc]

Dude, I have to say, being the coach of A Mighty Heart, when I saw your final round performance I was awe-struck. One of the best performances I've seen in a while, for sure. Honestly, and maybe I'm bias, but I thought it was between you and Mighty Heart. I put Frida at 3rd, imo. But whatever, great job man.

[Nyjin]

This is going to be such a stressful tournament! But between the anxiety and exhaustion, I'm sure its going to be fun.

[Jubanpride]

Thanks tgjdlc! Appreciate it. Everyone in that final round was awesome; I was surprised I walked away with the first. Good luck to your A Mighty Heart, I'm sure she will do well.

[mystic]

Here is the page where rounds and breaks are posted:

http://www.joyoftournaments.com/ca/fullerton/custom/jot-warmroom.asp

[tgjdlc]

Duo Finals (and my thoughts)
Mazzella - Olmanson (Desert Vista?)- I forget the name of the piece, but it's the Friar (from Romeo and Juliet) who gets blamed for their deaths. It was clean, funny, and had some very cool transitions. I think that's what made them fit in with the rest of the final round- not the best piece, or even the best actors, just very clean and crisp. (I ranked them 5)

Fernandez - Hall (Community Charter)- "Alex and the Warrior" Love these guys. They are very talented, mesh well together, and really have some of the best chemistry of this final round. (I ranked them 2)

Kwong - Lok (Gabrielino)- "Brothers" Whew. Hands down the best duo of the final round. I mean, they had it all- and it was one of the most touching pieces I've seen in a while. Great laser tag scene... awesome characters and very nice pairing. Just blew my mind. (I ranked them 1)

Chao - Zhu- ???- "A Thousand Cranes"... I enjoyed this piece, for the most part... it served it's right in the final round; however, the only part that REALLY got my respect was their intro. Powerful. (I ranked them 4)

Trinh - Liu- Gabrielino- "The Phantom Tollbooth". Cute. The girl was WAY talented. The characters were very nicely developed. They cut this **** well, and I know it's a difficult cut. It just wasn't my fave. (I ranked them 3)

Coffey - Shields- ??- some Fudge book (Judy Bloom). Uh, I was offended, grossed out, and in shock that this did well. that's as nice as I can be, so I won't go on.

[InterpEverything]

Could anyone give about the national potential of some of these pieces?

For instances Mazzella-Olmanson won Glenbrooks but got 6th here. Although I heard Duo was just weak at Glenbrooks, are these pieces all potentially national outrounds caliber? What about DI and HI? I know Kyle DeCamp won HI and Alexa Saunders won DI--both have done well in the past...Izzy Schwartz got 2nd at Glenbrooks in DI and got 2nd here to her teammate...anyone see those finals?

[Nyjin]

Well-run tournament. I had some shoddy judging though. Went 1, 1, 5 in my HI Prelims.
Hope everybody else had fun, though! It was a good tournament and plenty of good speeches.

[tgjdlc]

In Duo, the pieces that I think have NFL outround potential is "Brothers", "Phantom Tollbooth", and "Alex and the Warrior".

In HI, DeCamp's "Do black leather shoes reflect up?" will do well if he decides on continuing it; very clean, transitions were hot, and the characters were nicely done.
Other HI's:
Oedipus... For Kids- clean, just fizzled out halfway through the piece, I felt.
A Year Yonder- I really liked this kid. He was clean, funny, original, and loved the story. (The horse bit was hilarious).

[mac&cheese]

Glenbrooks was not weak with Duo. Glenbrooks was. . .different.

[frederick43004]

what piece does kyle decamp do? can someone review HI?

[tgjdlc]

Kyle DeCamp does "Do Black Leather Shoes Reflect Up?" I think,

I only saw semis of HI (1 of 3 rooms)
(In order of performance)
1- The Least Offensive Play In The Whole Wide World- Not as funny as the piece could be. She seemed nervous and the cut was eh. With that said, she was very good with her timing. She needs to just work on the transitions. They were a bit weak.

2- Something about a science fair- I liked her upon watching this at first. However, I can't remember much from the performance, not as much as others anyway. The best part of this piece was truly the "Hamster and glitter" bit.

3- Oedipus For Kids- This guy had a great narrator. The story just seems really played in this event (even if it isn't Oedi...) but he did very well with the piece and had some epic moments. He was a good performer, just not as clean (I felt) as some of the others in here.

4- Do Black Leather Shoes Reflect Up- came off really cocky. I didn't like that, and most of the audience I talked to didn't like that. With that being said, his transitions were OFF the chain. His singing voice was very nice. The characters were hilarious, the priest was awesome, the nun was very defined, and the girl of his dreams was the only character I felt was just too... idk... simple. But that's about the only thing that I didn't enjoy about his performance. He was a very natural performer who didn't rely on tech and gimmicks. Beautiful piece.

5- A Year Down Yonder-
His Grandma character was hilarious, I feel like she kind of got old (I got tired of the character) as the piece went on. The girl character was freakin' hilarious... especially the horse part. He was very clean with the pops and was a funny story... I just kind of feel like the piece was missing real depth. He is a great performer, though.

6- Batman and Robin
I'm gonna start this by saying that this is my student. He was too quiet, non-energetic, and didn't seem to connect with the audience well. However, he is very clean, has very good characters, and solid all-around. Had he been a little more energetic with more personality, he may have broken... he had some of the biggest laughs of the round, but not nearly as much as some of the top.

7- I don't remember, but I know it was Victoria Saunders
For this, I honestly can't remember... that forgettable I guess... though I can say it has its moments, I remember laughing a couple of times.

[minerva]

Can somebody review Oratory finals? I was only able to see Brian Castelloe's speech in prelims (which by the way is brilliant....as returning threat by breaking to semis at Nats last year, he is sure to make waves again)

[t0sh.hall]

Glenbrooks was not weak with Duo. Glenbrooks was. . .different.
What do you mean by different?
:)

[Speechin']

Could someone review DI finals?

[born2question]

Glenbrooks was not weak with Duo. Glenbrooks was. . .different.

My dad judged both the Glenbrooks Duo Final Round and the Fullerton Joint Union Duo Final Round. He thought that Fullerton was a much stronger final round.

[tgjdlc]

hah. I was sitting next to your pops during that round, then. He was the only male judge, I had the other two judges sitting right in front of me.

Yes, it was a very strong final round; though it could have been stronger in a couple of spots.

[JjulianSr]

Kyle DeCamp does "Do Black Leather Shoes Reflect Up?" I think,
...

2- Something about a science fair- I liked her upon watching this at first. However, I can't remember much from the performance, not as much as others anyway. The best part of this piece was truly the "Hamster and glitter" bit.

...


Someone is doing "National Science Fair Projects"? I did that piece in high school... in 1987. Really? Wow... nice to see a classic resurrected - if that's what happened. Tried to find it a few years ago for a kid on my team - couldn't find the original article it was cut from anywhere.