Junior Carmen Chen won the Spirit of the Dazzle Award at Playhouse Square on May 16. This marks the second year in a row that an IHS student won the Spirit of Dazzle. Last year, Jack Ottaviano, class of 2025, won the award. Chen was also selected for a technical apprenticeship with Dazzle for the second consecutive year.
During rehearsal week for the Dazzle Awards, Chen’s technical apprenticeship granted her the opportunity to work backstage with the crew at the Dazzle Awards and learn from professionals.
“It was one of the greatest opportunities of my life,” Chen commented about her experience last year. “Not only was I able to work on such a big production and meet so many new people, but it gave me so many new opportunities and connections.”
IHS musical director Mrs. Gretchen Obrovac added that Chen has also connected with cast members in the musical by working with them backstage.
Obrovac credits Chen’s love for theater tech as one of the reasons for earning the apprenticeship. “I think she’s very passionate with it and she’s dedicated,” Obrovac described. “She’s here. She shows up, and that’s half of it is showing up and doing the work. And she’s doing it.”
This spring, Chen created the call sheet for the IHS musical Chicago: Teen Edition, which details what has to happen backstage. “Everything that she learns [at Playhouse Square], she’s able to apply here, which is amazing,” Obrovac said, “which is probably why she was able to run the call sheet by herself this year.”
Chen is the first technical apprentice to receive the Spirit of the Dazzle Award, as it is most often awarded to cast members. The Spirit of the Dazzle Award honors the person who most displays positivity and friendship during rehearsal week leading up to the Dazzle Awards Ceremony.
Further representing IHS, seniors Tillie Averre and Gianna Londrico were selected to perform in the opening and closing numbers at this year’s Dazzle Awards Ceremony.
The Dazzle Awards, presented by Pat and John Chapman, is a program in Northeast Ohio that recognizes skill and talent in high school musical theater.
