Results/Awards
History
Festival Site & Showcase Summary
| Year | Festival Site | Showcase Show | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | UW-Oshkosh | Foxfire Moon ChildrenThe Cherry Orchard | Racine Theatre Guild Shorewood HS UW-Milwaukee (PTTP) |
| 1992 | UW-La Crosse | The Heidi Chronicles Crimes of the Heart Oklahoma!Quilters | UW-Stout Viterbo CollegeMadison West HSWaukesha Civic Theatre |
| 1993 | UW-Stevens Point | Steel Magnolias 1776 | Nicolet HS UW-Stevens Point |
| 1994 | UW-Whitewater | Nunsense Dancing at Lughnasa | Brookfield Central HS UW-Whitewater |
| 1995 | UW-Stevens Point | Into the Woods TartuffeWild Oats | Wausau West HS UW-Stevens Point Dominican HS |
| 1996 | UW-Whitewater | Noises Off The Colored Museum andPullman Car Hiawatha42nd StreetThe Crucible | Kettle Moraine HS Milwaukee Plus XI HS Verona Area HS Appleton West HS |
| 1997 | UW-Stevens Point | Cabaret Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor DreamcoatThe Diviners | Hartford Union HS Luxemburg-Casco Sr HS Greendale HS |
| 1998 | UW-Whitewater | Out of Order Godspell | Middleton HS Kenosha Bradford HS |
| 1999 | UW-La Crosse and Viterbo College | Working The Wizard of Oz | Shorewood HS La Crosse Logan HS |
| 2000 | UW-Whitewater | The Night Thoreau Spent in JailCinderella | Superior Senior HS Appleton North HS |
| 2001 | UW-Stevens Point | Our Town Quilters | Northland Pines HS Wis. Rapids Lincoln HS |
| 2002 | UW-Whitewater | Footloose A Chorus LineA Midsummer Night’s Dream | Ellsworth HS Wauwatosa West HSNicolet HS |
| 2003 | UW-La Crosse and Viterbo College | Rags Bat Boy the Musical | Appleton West HS Kenosha Bradford HS |
| 2004 | UW-Whitewater | Pirates of Penzance Of Thee I Sing | Dominican HS Verona Area HS |
| 2005 | UW-Oshkosh | Scapino! | Middleton HS |
| 2006 | UW-Whitewater | The Three Sisters Urinetown: The Musical | Dominican HS Shorewood HS |
| 2007 | UW-Stevens Point | Marvin’s Room Anything Goes | The Prairie School, Racine Verona Area HS |
| 2008 | UW-La Crosse and Viterbo College | Charley’s Aunt Miss Saigon | Nicolet HS Appleton North HS |
| 2009 | UW-Whitewater | A Midsummer Night’s Dream Dark of the Moon | Jefferson HS Beloit Memorial HS |
| 2010 | UW-Oshkosh | Rabbit Hole Seussical | Kenosha Tremper HS Gibraltar HS |
| 2011 | UW-Whitewater | The Torch Bearers The Phantom of the Opera | Waterford Union HS Appleton North HS |
| 2012 | UW-Stevens Point | The Birds Once on This Island | Shawano Community HS Dominican HS |
| 2013 | Waunakee HS | Leaving Iowa Spamalot | Badger HS Verona Area HS |
| 2014 | Viterbo University | Journey to the West Hello! My Baby | Appleton North HS Indian Trail HS & Academy |
| 2015 | UW-Whitewater | The Scarlet Heart The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Wis. Rapids Lincoln HS Middleton HS |
| 2016 | UW-Stevens Point | Rwanda & Juliet La Cage Aux Folles | UW–Madison Arts Institute UW-Stevens Point |
| 2017 | UW-Whitewater | Noises Off Peter and the Starcatcher | Waukesha West HS Middleton HS |
| 2018 | Viterbo University | Several contest one-acts | |
| 2019 | UW-Milwaukee | All My Sons Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatA Piece of My Heart | Whitefish Bay HS Reedsburg HSUW-Milwaukee |
| 2020 | Classrooms.Cloud | N/A | |
| 2021 | UW-Stevens Point AnywhereSeat.com | N/A | |
| 2022 | UW-Whitewater | Almost, Maine Mean Girls, HS Edition | Kenosha Indian Trail HS & Academy Kenosha Bradford |
| 2023 | UW-Green Bay | Measure for Measure | UW-Green Bay |
| 2024 | UW-Milwaukee | Hadestown: Teen Edition | Wauwatosa West |
Timeline
WISDAA (WHSFA) begins contest in “dramatics.” For many years, the contest was held in Stevens Point.
WISDAA teams up with UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies to offer a more comprehensive festival with educational programming and outreach along with rotation to several partner universities (see list to the left).
The Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education (AWTE) also plays a pivotal role in supporting educator professional development and support of programming at the festival.
Renovations at UW-Whitewater forces the festival to be held at a high school — for its first and only time to-date, Waunakee High School.
The Wisconsin Thespians (Educational Theatre Association affiliate) begins offering Individual Events at the festival.
UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies discontinues programming in Theatre; WISDAA takes over coordination of the overall festival.
Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival is offered in a fully virtual format, including multiple one-acts from schools, video recorded in-person, social distanced and masked performances as well as recordings of videoconference performances. Online workshops and exhibit booths also were held.
Continuing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival is offered both as a return to in-person performance (with various public health measures in place), as well as a virtual option. Besides one-act plays, only online, asynchronous workshops and Thespys events were offered.
Building the partnership with Wisconsin Thespians, Prescott HS becomes the first WISDAA one-act to earn the chapter select award and to present at the International Thespian Festival in Bloomington, Indiana in June 2025.