Hoboken High School Thespians Earn Record-Breaking Honors at New Jersey Thespians Festival
Hoboken High School Thespians Earn Record-Breaking Honors at New Jersey Thespians Festival
Hoboken students earned a school-record 16 Superior Medals
Hoboken, NJ, —(Tuesday, January 20, 2026) Hoboken High School Thespians Competition Team participated in the New Jersey Thespians Festival, one of the most rigorous and respected student theatre events in the region. A total of 65 high schools from New Jersey and Delaware competed across multiple adjudicated categories, including acting, musical theatre, and technical theatre.
In addition to competing, students participated in more than 300 professional workshops covering a wide range of theatre disciplines such as acting techniques, improvisation, juggling, and technical theatre elements. Students also visited college recruitment booths, giving them valuable opportunities to explore postsecondary pathways and consider how theatre can remain an important part of their lives beyond high school.
Hoboken students truly shined at this year’s festival, earning a school-record 16 Superior Medals. Nineteen students received perfect scores on the adjudication rubric from multiple judges, an extraordinary achievement at this level of competition. As a result, these students have qualified to present their work at the International Thespian Festival at Indiana University Bloomington this June, where they will represent Hoboken on an international stage alongside top high school theatre programs from around the world.
Thespy Award Recipients:
- Solo Acting: Sihanna Garcia
- Contrasting Monologues: Lucas Daly
- Duet Scene: Avery Roth and Maxine Nieroda
- Duet Scene: Bria Wong and Molly Lamb
- Duet Scene: Channing Chung and Stefan Jovanovski
- Duet Scene: Lucas Daly and Cameron Daly
- Group Acting Ensemble: Hannah Morley, Bria Wong, Rebecca Wu, and Julieta Guzman
- Group Acting Ensemble: Molly Lamb, Kevin Melendez, Tyler Mara, Amelia Tlacuilo, Athena Elshafey, Sihanna Garcia, and Stefan Jovanovski
- Technical Theatre – Set Design: Sihana Alaj
- Musical Theatre Solo: Stefan Jovanovski
- Musical Theatre Solo: Kevin Melendez
- Musical Theatre Solo: Hannah Morley
- Musical Theatre Solo: Jayden Rosser
- Musical Theatre Solo: Sihanna Garcia
- Musical Theatre Solo: Tyler Mara
- Musical Theatre Duet: Michelle Puharre and Kevin Melendez
Hoboken High School Thespians (37 Students):
Rachel Adler, Sihana Alaj, Emerson Blischke-Villavicencio, Sophia Castiglione, Channing Chung, Gabriel Colon, Rye Critelli, Emily Critz, Cameron Daly, Lucas Daly, Gregory Early, Athena Elshafey, Jose Figueroa, Sihanna Garcia, Mayla Gregory, Julieta Guzman-Espinosa, Stefan Jovanovski, Jackson Kirsch, Molly Lamb, Alistair Liddell, Tyler Mara, Dyana Martinez, Kevin Melendez, Hannah Morley, Maxine Nieroda, Seneca Perry, Magnus Peterka, Michelle Puharre, Gabriel Rivas, Crisshayla Rivera, Jayden Rosser, Avery Roth, Martin Shchudro, Amelia Tlacuilo, Pria Wolsky, Bria Wong, and Rebecca Wu.
The Hoboken Public School District congratulates the Hoboken High School Thespians on their outstanding achievements and looks forward to cheering them on as they advance to the international level.
About the NJ Thespians Festival
NJ Thespians is the state chapter of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), which sponsors the International Thespian Society (ITS). Its mission is to promote, strengthen, and advocate for theatre arts education in New Jersey’s schools.