Armstrong Theater Department receives award for Outstanding Achievement

Honoring their feats of theater wizardry and a magical production last fall, the Armstrong High School Theater Department received a special recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Educational Theater for their production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Minnesota Educational Theater Association (META) awarded the honor on Sept. 20 at a Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota conference.

In the fall of 2024, Armstrong was selected as the first high school in Minnesota, along with 28 others nationwide, to receive rights to produce Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The production, which sold out multiple shows, featured a cast of 34 students and a backstage crew at least twice that size.

“Given the challenges presented with this particular title; both Warner Brothers film restrictions and the Broadway production, it required the artistic team of Jenny Lovett and Molly Kern to really stretch themselves and their students to reach for the heights of creativity and theatrical magic,” said Gregg Sawyer, President of META. “Minnesota Educational Theater Association is thrilled to celebrate with RAHS Theater Department for putting the state on the National Theater Map!”

The Minnesota Educational Theater Association is a state-wide professional organization for theater educators. META strives to promote and advance theater education in Minnesota through state-wide connections between K-college classroom teachers, teaching artists, and theater company educational wings.