{"id":351487,"date":"2026-06-08T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351487\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:12:00","slug":"oc-students-and-theater-programs-earn-top-honors-at-2026-spirit-of-the-macy-awards-ocde-newsroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351487\/","title":{"rendered":"OC students and theater programs earn top honors at 2026 Spirit of the MACY Awards \u2013 OCDE Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"\"Isaiah Medina\u2019s performance in Tesoro High School\u2019s rendition of \u201cFootloose\u201d earned him Best Actor for the second year in a row at the 2026 Spirit of the MACY Awards<\/a> at the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts. (Photo courtesy of Tesoro High School) <\/p>\n

Quick look: The Spirit of the MACY Awards took place on May 23, honoring the top high school theater actors and productions throughout Southern California. Orange County students and schools took home many of the highest awards. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s better than winning Best Actor at the Spirit of the MACY Awards? Winning two years in a row, of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 23, Isaiah Medina of Tesoro High School was named Best Actor at the 2026 Spirit of the MACY Awards<\/a> at the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts. His standout performance in the musical \u201cFootloose\u201d earned him the award for the second year in a row \u2014 a historic feat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Medina\u2019s recognition will also earn him a trip to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards<\/a>, also known as the Jimmy Awards, at Broadway\u2019s Minskoff Theatre in New York. The ceremony is the premier celebration of the top high school theater talent in the country, where two students will be named for the Best Performance by an Actress and Best Performance by an Actor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founded in 1969 by John and Lee Childress, the Spirit of the MACY Awards recognizes the top high school theater actors and productions throughout Southern California. Participating schools are evaluated by a panel of judges on both individual and ensemble performances.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Spirit of the MACY saw multiple Orange County students take home top awards, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Supporting Actor: Antonio Lopez, Huntington Beach Performing Arts School<\/p>\n

Best Supporting Actress: Ella Corbridge, San Clemente High School<\/p>\n

Best Comedian: Braden Berg, Trabuco Hills High School<\/p>\n

Best Female Dancer: Eliana Seven Merritt, Laguna Beach High School<\/p>\n

\"GodinezGodinez theater students in the musical \u201cIn the Hights,\u201d which was awarded the Childress Award at the 2026 Spirit of the MACY Awards. (Photo courtesy of Godinez Fundamental High School) <\/p>\n

Additionally, Godinez Fundamental High School\u2019s Theater Arts program was honored for their performance of \u201cIn the Heights,\u201d a Broadway musical infused with Latin American culture. Out of over 60 schools, Godinez was awarded the Childress Award \u2014 one of the highest ensemble awards of the ceremony.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so proud of our Godinez artists,\u201d said Jeanette McMahon, the visual and performing arts department co-chair at Godinez. \u201cAs directors, we knew this show was special. It\u2019s great that others recognized it too!\u201d<\/p>\n

According to McMahon, the Childress Award is presented to the ensemble that best embodies the MACY Awards\u2019 vision. Judges consider factors such as individual performances, artistic excellence, storytelling, ensemble spirit and the production\u2019s overall impact.<\/p>\n

Marina High School and Laguna Beach High School were similarly both honored for their productions of \u201cXanadu\u201d and \u201cUrinetown,\u201d respectively. Each received The Spirit of the MACY Award, only given to two ensembles for their exceptional quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Isaiah Medina\u2019s performance in Tesoro High School\u2019s rendition of \u201cFootloose\u201d earned him Best Actor for the second year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-351487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}