A performance of just a few minutes resulted in a cross-country trip for four Redmond Proficiency Academy students.

Senior Jacob Smart, juniors Siena Baker and Katie Bullock and freshman Nate Viscaino are headed to the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 20-25. There, they will face 200 other students in a nationwide competition.

The achievement is a first for RPA, a public Redmond charter school that has served sixth- through 12th-graders for seven years.

“I’m pretty sure we’re the only school in Central Oregon that’s ever gone,” said Kate Torcom, the school’s theater teacher. “It’s so cool.”

The students qualified for the national event by winning the state competition in the small group musical competition last month in Salem. They plan to perform the same piece, “Security Meltdown,” from the musical “Calvin Berger,” at nationals, which is hosted by the University of Nebraska.

“Especially for me, being my last year, it’s so cool that we made it this far,” said Jacob, 17. “It’s kind of mind-blowing.”

Katie, 17, has seen the school’s acting program grow from having three students compete at the regional competition her freshman year to 20 at regionals in February. She credits Torcom with growing the program.

“When we first started out, we were very small. Kate came in and pushed us to the next level,” she said. “She sees so much potential in us that we can’t see.”

Torcom, who has been involved with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the theater program at Northwestern University in Chicago, said her current group is as professional as anyone she has worked with.

“They have a raw sense of talent and sheer determination,” she said.

The piece the students perform is basically a caricature of high school students like themselves, Katie said, which makes it enjoyable. “Calvin Berger” is based on the classic play “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

“We’re dancing, we’re acting, we’re moving, we’re harmonizing with each other,” she said.

The students recently started rehearsing “Security Meltdown” again after taking a break to prepare for RPA’s recently wrapped production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“We’re dusting the cobwebs off and adding new touches,” Torcom said. “We have until June, and I have a feeling that, by then, I will hate this song.”

The theater festival is more than just the competition. It includes workshops, where students learn from professionals, as well as a chance to audition for college scholarships.

The students would like to take part in theater in college, though they aren’t sure they want to major in it. Jacob dreams of having his own theater.

“I like the idea of owning my own business,” he said.

The students are still working on getting to Nebraska. They performed a fundraiser at the recent Youth Art Walk in downtown Redmond and are holding drawings with the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs. They also have a GoFundMe page to help them reach their $7,000 goal.

“We’re really just doing our best to show that what we’re doing to represent Redmond, Oregon, and the state of Oregon is worth it,” Katie said.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com