The Xenia High School Theater had a WONDER-ful year in ‘25-’26 and reaped the rewards at this year’s Miami Valley High School Theater Awards (MVHSTA) Showcase. Our fantastic student actors and staff came home with 23 awards for their work on the play One Stoplight Town and the musical Wonderland!

The MVHSTA Awards Showcase, held on June 2 at the Schuster Center in Dayton, celebrates artistic excellence in high school theater in Dayton and the surrounding areas, and featured 41 participating schools this year. Two of our students, Liberty Phillips and Matthew Long, represented Xenia High School in the showcase cast for the opening and closing songs of the night. They sure had a blast performing in front of a sold-out crowd and meeting new performers from area schools in rehearsals!

The feature award for XHS of the night was the announcement of Alex Ewing receiving the Wright State University MVHSTA Scholarship, a renewable $3000 scholarship for students attending Wright State enrolled in the Theater Arts. Congratulations to Alex and best of luck in your work at WSU.

XHS Theater was honored with the following program awards this season:

• Merit Award for Production of a Musical
• Merit Award for Ensemble of a Musical
• Merit Award for Ensemble of a Play

Individual Awards for Xenia students included:

• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play - Violet Black, Jillian Dameron
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical - Violet Black, Sierra Bice
• Merit for Leading Actress in a Musical - Adele Daab, Liberty Phillips
• Merit for Leading Actress in a Play - Abigail Hutchins, Elleana Severt
• Merit for Leading Actor in a Play - Alex Ewing
• Merit for Supporting Actress in a Play - Sierra Bice, Lilah Halley
• Merit for Supporting Actor in a Musical - Alex Ewing

Student Design & Technical Awards:

• Merit for Student Choregraphy Design - Sierra Bice, Ivy Niggle, Paris Mitchell
• Merit for Student Set Design - Adele Daab, Alex Ewing
• Merit for Student Prop Design in a Play - Abigail Hutchins, Matthew Long
• Merit for Student Lighting Design - Landon Allen

A huge congratulations to those awarded and a big thank you to all of the students, directors, parents, and volunteers who helped make this past year a great success! Be sure to check out Xenia High School Theater in the 2026-27 school year and give us a follow on Facebook to stay updated on show announcements and ticket sales.

See more photos from the evening in the online photo gallery. 

📷 Mr. Matson