Seniors Capture Kellog & Samodi Theatre Awards

Isabella Cruz Ponz, Sergio Portillo and Lily Wasoski captured this year’s John F. Kellog Theatre Awards and Walter Lopez Martinez and Alexader Tine garnered the Joseph Samodi Theatre Arts Awards as the Huntington High School drama club capped off another successful campaign.

The five Huntington stars of the stage were announced as the 2026 recipients by high school drama club faculty advisor Michael Schwendemann at the senior departmental awards and scholarships ceremony.

Each of the seniors received a $50 stipend. They are all veterans of Huntington High School drama and musical productions and have helped make the club one of Long Island’s finest.

Ms. Cruz Ponce will be attending CUNY-Hunter College with Mr. Portillo headed to Stony Brook University. Ms. Wasoski will be studying at the Boston Conservatory at the Berklee School of Music. Mr. Lopez Martinez will be attending Suffolk Community College with Mr. Tine going to SUNY College at Purchase.

Drama Club History

“The Masque,” as Huntington’s drama club was known for many years, was first organized in the fall of 1928. “The original purpose of this organization was to develop individual talent in expression and artistic ability,” according to the 1931 edition of The Huntingtonian, the high school yearbook.

The early club was led by teacher Julia E. Vail, a graduate of Ithaca Conservatory. In addition to the study and practice of acting, Miss Vail held discussions on music, the art of make-up, book reviews and the merits of European and American theatres.

In 1929, months after being formed, the club invited the community to a three act comedy called “The Youngest.” At the time, the club had a policy of presenting a single play a year. In 1930 the production was the fantasy “Prunella.” “Both of these plays were received by the students and the townspeople with acclaim,” states the 1931 yearbook.

The Masque’s symbol was “an Oriental face cut into the semblance of a charm with the letters HHS across the top,” according to The Huntingtonian. Students qualified for the charm by participating in a play production or selling at least a dozen tickets to one.

The Masque of yesteryear is now simply known as the drama club. It stages a pair of productions each year, including a musical. There are still plenty of students eager to challenge and express themselves as each role requires. There are still those eager to learn and perform the music necessary for certain productions and construct the sets, handle the lighting and the sound, create the costumes and address all the other little details.