SALT LAKE CITY — Darin Hathaway, Judge Memorial Catholic High School drama teacher, was named the 2013 UHSAA 3A Drama Coach of the Year during the 3A state high school drama competition at Stansbury High School April 11-12. Charlie Howard, a Judge Memorial senior, won Best Character Actor in a one-act; Nick Markham, a junior, placed first in dramatic monologue; and senior Rachel Huley and junior Connor McCoy placed third in musical theater. Markham performed a monologue from the musical "Assassins," portraying the character of Sam Byck, who attempts to assassinate Richard Nixon. Charlie Howard portrayed Josh in "Every Seventeen Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy!" by Pail Zindelin, in the one-act category. Huley and McCoy sang a combination of the songs "Hey Number 1" and "Hey Number 2," as a casual conversation "with a lot of heart-felt emotions," said Huley. "It was a great year; I have really talented students," said Hathaway. "We performed "Sweeney Todd," which is quite a challenging musical, probably the hardest musical ever written and the students were awesome." That play was performed in January for the state-wide Utah Theater Conference for high schools at Westminster College. "It was a privilege for us to perform this year and I think that is one of the reasons why I received the Coach of the Year Award," Hathaway said. "The conference has about 1,500 high school students and about 700 students came to see the show." Hathaway’s goal is to work with his students on social skills, getting them comfortable in front of people, improving their self-esteem, memorization and public speaking skills, he said. "I also want the students to use theater as a way to promote social justice, social awareness; the idea of looking through a global lens at what else is out there and really getting used to critically thinking about things." Hathaway chooses a diverse repertoire of shows so when students leave Judge Memorial for college they have a resume and are prepared to compete. "I work with them to be real actors, to be competitive in the real world if they choose to do this as a hobby or as a career. The biggest complement I get is from former students in their first few years of college who say what they are studying, they already know." Huley was impressed with Hathaway as a drama coach while deciding which school to attend after moving to Utah from New Jersey, she said. "We have learned different techniques and how to be real because being real is the easiest thing to forget when you are being fake on stage," Huley said. "I like the action and the feeling I get portraying people who aren’t me; becoming that person is really interesting to me." The theater is the one thing Howard is going to miss when he leaves Judge Memorial, he said. He joined theater during his sophomore year by auditioning for "Bye Bye Birdie." "I got a part and I have loved the theater," Howard said. "Mr. Hathaway has really guided me and it has been a fun experience to be in "Sweeney Todd" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and put together a diverse portfolio of different characters." Markham is in his first year of acting in the theater. "I’ve always loved theater and going to musicals, but it wasn’t until Connor McCoy talked me into auditioning for "Sweeney Todd" that I got involved," he said. "It worked out well because I was cast as Sweeney Todd, which was a big risk on Mr. Hathaway’s part. I worked hard over the summer to memorize the lines and really discover the role. What I’ve learned to love about theater is the chance to tell people a story to give them emotions you can’t give any other way, and to live multiple lives by acting."
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