Albany High's "My Fair Lady" takes top awards

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 21, 2012) -- Albany High School's award-winning Theatre Ensemble has to make room on the shelf for a few more accolades.

In the local version of Tony Awards for high school musicals, the Theatre Ensemble's April production of My Fair Lady earned Best Production and two cast members won Outstanding Performance Awards from the Schenectady Light Opera Company.

 Outstanding Performance Awards went to seniors Alejandro Torres, who played linguistic taskmaster Henry Higgins, and Nikolai Mishler, who played Alfred P. Doolittle, father of Eliza Doolittle.

Every year members of SLOC watch and judge all area high-school musicals and then name winners and honorable mentions.

Other My Fair Lady cast members nominated for the Outstanding Performance Award include Amal Hechehouche, who played cockney flower girl Eliza Doolitte, Nicholas Gardner, who played Higgins' colleague Colonel Pickering, and Lucas Phayre-Gonzales, who played love-struck Freddy Eynsford-Hill.

The Theatre Ensemble is under the direction of Ward Dales, who teaches theater arts at Albany High and is an adjunct professor at the University at Albany and Hudson Valley Community College. 

The mission of the City School District of Albany is to educate and nurture all students to be responsible citizens, critical thinkers and lifelong learners to successfully compete in the global community by providing an academically rigorous and safe environment in partnership with parents, students and the community. The district serves about 8,700 students in 15 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students, including four themed academies at Albany High School.