International theater program coming to Hilton Head; 4 Beaufort County students selected to participate

Four Beaufort County students have been selected to receive scholarships from the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute, according to a news release.

Hilton Head Island High School’s Morgan Smith, Karana Lobough and Cassie Maurer and May River High School’s Matthew Davey will join a cast from from 25 states and four countries as they produce the musicals “Anything Goes” and “Young Frankenstein” this summer.

For the past 10 years, the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute has annually brought high school performers to the Lowcountry to produce a professional musical. In 2016, the program moved from Savannah to its current summer home on Hilton Head, on the campus of Hilton Head High School.

The students travel to the Lowcountry and work with a staff of nearly 30 musical theater professionals, including college coaches and professors from Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan and Pace University. With Broadway director/choreographers and sets from the Broadway National Tours, the chosen students are put through a production process that many professional performers aspire to experience.

In order to receive this merit-based scholarship through a partnership between the Beaufort County School District and SSTI, the local students had to undergo the online screening and portfolio review, just like the students who audition from around the world.

Smith and Lobough will be participating in SSTI’s Tech Program. Maurer and Davey will be participating in the production of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.”

Tickets for the productions are available at HHISummerMusicals.com.

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 12:09 PM with the headline "International theater program coming to Hilton Head; 4 Beaufort County students selected to participate."