J.P. McCaskey High School’s spring musical production of “The Wedding Singer” was a big winner Sunday night at the 17th annual Hershey Theatre Apollo Awards, held in Hershey’s Giant Center.
It was McCaskey’s first year competing at the Apollo Awards.
McCaskey’s production won six awards, including outstanding musical of the year.
The cast of McCaskey High School’s “The Wedding Singer” performs Sunday night, May 18, at the Apollo Awards before receiving the award for outstanding musical and outstanding dance number, among other awards.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff writer
Based on the Tony Awards, the Apollo Awards recognize achievement, both onstage and behind the scenes, by local high school students in musical and play productions.
Four high schools were added to the regional competition this year — three of them from Lancaster County: Lampeter-Strasburg, McCaskey, Conestoga Valley and Steelton-Highspire.
McCaskey’s “The Wedding Singer,” a 1980s-themed show based on the 1998 rom-com film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, also won outstanding lead actor and actress in a musical for Callaghan Petrosky, as Robbie Hart, and Annika Locke, as Julia Sullivan.
Kristin Wolanin, right, director of the J.P. McCaskey spring musical “The Wedding Singer,” celebrates after the Apollo Awards in the Giant Center Sunday night, May 18, with Callaghan Petrosky, who won outstanding lead actor in a musical. “The Wedding Singer won six awards, including outstanding musical.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff writer
Lydia Corvino, who played Linda in the McCaskey show, won outstanding featured performer in a musical, and Celia Keener, who played Holly, was named outstanding supporting actress in a musical.
Directed by Kristin Wolanin and musically directed by William Broaddus, McCaskey’s ”The Wedding Singer” also won outstanding dance number in a musical for “It’s Your Wedding Day.”
The McCaskey cast performed that high-energy number at the awards ceremony Sunday night.
The casts of all of the outstanding musical nominees performed numbers from their shows on Sunday night, and those nominated for outstanding play performed scenes.
Students nominated for outstanding lead actor and actress in plays and musicals performed monologues and songs from their productions.
In other awards in the musical categories, Ephrata High School’s production of “Chicago: Teen Edition,” won the award for outstanding student orchestra.
Ephrata High School performs “We Both Reached For the Gun” from its production of “Chicago: Teen Edition,” at the Apollo Awards Sunday night in the Giant Center.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff writer
Other Lancaster County casts performing production numbers Sunday as outstanding-musical nominees were Ephrata’s “Chicago”; Lampeter-Strasburg’s “Mamma Mia!” and Elizabethtown High School’s “The Pirates of Penzance.”
Jordan DeGroft, portraying Cosmo Brown in “Singin’ in the Rain” at Mount Calvary Christian School in Elizabethtown, won outstanding supporting actor in a musical.
You can see all the Apollo nominees for high school musicals, along with productions and cast members who received honorable mentions, at lanc.news/ApolloMusicals2025.
The cast of “The Pirates of Penzance,” from Elizabethtown High School, performs a number at Sunday night’s Apollo Awrds in Hershey.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT| Staff writer
Winners for play productions
In the play categories, outstanding play of the year went to Susquenita High School’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
In that Susquenita production, Brinley Harrison, as Abby Brewster, won outstanding lead actress in a play.
For Encore! Home School Production’s of the play “You Can’t Take It With You,” Brock Sunday, portraying Martin Vanderhof, took home outstanding lead actor in a play. For the same production, Jeremiah Evans, as Donald, took home the award for outstanding featured performer in a play, and Ian Riethmiller, portraying Tony Kirby Jr.. won outstanding supporting actor in a play.
Encore! draws home-school students from throughout the region, including Lancaster County.
Madison Mutterspaugh, as Tom Kreider in Donegal High School’s production of “Radium Girls,” won outstanding supporting actress in a play.
Christina Pham of Bishop McDevitt High School won outstanding student playwright for “The Love Project.” Her play will be given a staged reading this summer.
You can see all the nominees for the fall plays, along with productions and cast members who received honorable mentions, at lanc.news/ApolloPlays2025.
The cast of Lampeter-Strasburg performs a number from its spring musical “Mamma Mia!” at Sunday night’s Apollo Awards.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | staff writer
This year’s recipient of the $1,000 Tony Measley Student Scholarship, named for the co-founder and longtime producer of the Apollo Awards, is Jordan Braman of Lower Dauphin High School.
The awards show Sunday night, was held at the Giant Center because its usual venue, the Hershey Theatre, is closed for renovations.
Public and private schools in Cumberland, Dauphin, Juniata, Lebanon and Perry counties, in addition to schools in Lancaster County within a 30-mile radius of Hershey, were eligible to participate in the 17th annual Apollo Awards program.
SPIRIT OF THEATER AWARDS
Directors of high school plays and musicals eligible for the Apollo Awards chose the student on each production who was honored with the Spirit of Theater Award.
The students were selected for their offstage, behind-the-scenes contributions to their productions.
Spirit of Theater Award recipients for plays were:
Sofia Fitzgerald, of Camp Hill High School; Erin Lazor, Central Dauphin East High School; Charlie Vazquez, Columbia High/Middle School; Keira Schreffler, Dauphin County Technical School; Rebekah Ehrisman, East Juniata High School; Adrienne Crick, Elizabethtown Area High School; Ella McKell, Encore! Home School Productions; Allurah McNally, Ephrata High School; Daphne Linn, Lower Dauphin High School; Zyaire Vidal, McCaskey High School; Tyson Bomberger, Middletown Area High School; Cas Spitler, Palmyra Area High School; Gary Godfrey, Susquenita High School; and Tya Wolgemuth, Warwick High School.
Spirit of Theater Award recipients for for musicals were Maura Tressler, Bishop McDevitt High School; Olivia Zahuranec, Camp Hill High School; Gilad Goldman, Capital Area School for the Arts; Anna Peelen, Cedar Crest High School; Emily Peisner, Central Dauphin High School; Luke Hawes, Central Dauphin East High School; Michael Unkow, Columbia High/Middle School; Alex Rivera Jr., Conestoga Valley High School; Autumn Fronk, East Juniata High School; Alexa Landon, Elizabethtown Area High School; Abigail Arnold, Encore! Home School Productions; Sebastian Rios, Ephrata High School; Jonathan Bradshaw, Greenwood High School; Ava Rooney, Harrisburg Academy; Maddie Melville, Harrisburg Christian School; Clara Mecouch, Lampeter-Strasburg High School; Asher Barrs, Lower Dauphin High School; Titus Newswanger, McCaskey High School; Paige Bollinger, Middletown Area High School; Eddie Boyer, Milton Hershey School; Faith Littlefield, Mount Calvary Christian School; Kendall Wess, Palmyra Area High School; Keandre Pillier-Rivera, Steelton-Highspire Junior/Senior High School; and Jaxon King, Warwick High School.