Hunting-Tonys Celebrate Student Artistic Success

The eighth annual Hunting-Tony Awards, held Monday at the John W. Engeman Theater, packed the house with students, parents and faculty members who were involved in their high schools’ theatrical productions over the 2017/2018 school year.

The Hunting-Tony’s had 26 categories that recognized acting, singing, dance performances, stage crew, scenery, orchestra pits, costumes and technical productions.

Sponsored by Councilmembers Mark Cuthbertson and Joan Cergol and the Engeman Theater, the Hunting-Tony Awards ceremony featured a pre-show in which student nominees, many of whom wore tuxedos and evening gowns, walked the red carpet.

The show began with opening remarks from Cuthbertson and Cergol and featured musical numbers from Harborfields “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” Half Hollow Hill High School East “Into the Woods,” Northport’s “The Music Man,” and Cold Spring Harbor’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Cuthbertson stated, “I am proud to sponsor the eighth annual Hunting-Tony awards at the John W. Engeman Theater.  Every day there are pages of newspaper articles written about the accomplishments of sports athletes, we never see anything about celebrating the arts in schools, the Hunting-Tony awards is their championship, and we are proud to recognize your talents. Congratulations again to all of the nominees and winners.”

Cergol said, “To all of the people who worked so hard to put on these fantastic productions –the actors and actresses, the musicians, all of the people behind the scenes who made sure all the costumes and scenery were right and that everything went off without a hitch, students, teachers, administrators, parents — all of you deserve enormous credit for what you did to get us here tonight. I would also like to give special thanks to the district administrators and to our school boards. At a time when budgets are strained, when it can be all too easy to cut back support for programs that don’t show up as achievements in the state-mandated tests, all of our districts have made the statement that the arts matter, too. “

For more information about the Hunting-Tony Awards, please call 631-351-3177.

Information and photos provided by the Town of Huntington

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