For the second straight year, Culver City High School's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Theatre has been awarded first place for the Los Angeles County region in the CETA (California Educational Theatre Association) competition under the direction of creative director Sheila Silver. The production will be recognized on the main stage of the annual CETA Festival during Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Some 2,000 drama students are expected to attend.

The Laramie Project was sold out for all nine performances at the intimate Sony Pictures Black Box Theatre in November. Silver, the cast and crew will re-stage the production for the festival at the Robert Frost Auditorium, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.

Screams of excitement, followed by phone calls, text messages, and Facebook posts flooded communication channels of the cast and crew when the news was announced of their win.

“We simply want to share the story of this powerful play and are thrilled that we will touch the lives of so many students at CETA” says Silver. “We are so proud to represent the Academy, CCUSD and all of the community partners who support AVPA in so many ways.”