Lutheran South High School’s production of “Little Women” won big at this year’s St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards. Of the eight categories they were nominated in, the Lutheran South troupe took home five: Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Faculty Technical Execution. 

“I think I’m still in shock,” Lutheran South teacher and theatre director Phylan Peters-Bahkou said. “We don’t do it for the awards — we do it because we love the art and we love the kids. So this was quite an honor to be recognized at this level.”

As they set out to perform “Little Women,” a few seniors sat down with the rest of the cast and shared their hopes of being nominated by SLHSMTA. If they could achieve one nomination, that would be honor enough. Lutheran South had received technical awards before, but the troupe had never been nominated in one of the main categories.

When they were nominated in their first category, the students rejoiced and then slowly dispersed — their goal had been achieved. But as the nominations rolled in throughout the day, one after another, the joy and surprise bubbled further. Peters-Bahkou says the students were “beyond thrilled” to be recognized.

Thirty students from Lutheran South attended the SLHSMTA ceremony. Upon seeing the other nominees, Peters-Bahkou says her students projected other schools as the winners; they were simply honored to be considered at all. During the ceremony, Peters-Bahkou sat in a separate section from the students, but she says their excitement at winning was palpable — she received videos and messages full of shock and rejoicing. 

“Our kids were thrilled to see that their hard work meant something to someone,” Peters-Bahkou said. “Watching the kids be excited was the absolute best part.”

“Little Women,” which was performed from April 10-12, was a labor of love for Lutheran South’s young actors. Peters-Bahkou estimates the troupe spent 1,000 hours on the show.

The students’ hard work is personified in junior Kevin Friel, who won Outstanding Supporting Actor for his performance as Professor Bhaer. Not only did he learn the German dialect of the beloved professor, but he — like all the boys in this show, as requested by Peters-Bahkou — grew a beard to fit the 19th century time period. Parents may have cringed, Peters-Bahkou says, but it paid off in the end.

“The part of Professor Bhaer is not a huge part, but every moment he was on stage, you knew he was there,” Peters-Bahkou said. “He was very present in the role, in the character, and he was excellent. We were so excited for him to win that, because he absolutely earned it.”

This performance of “Little Women” was the inaugural show in Lutheran South’s new Jubel Center for the Arts. Peters-Bahkou says this added to the excitement, though you wouldn’t know it was the first show on a new stage, she says, if you saw how the students mastered the production.

SLHSMTA is produced by The Fabulous Fox, The Muny and The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation. Beginning next academic year, the awards will be renamed to the Ken Page Awards, in honor of the late St. Louis actor.

“I’m very grateful to be in the St. Louis area and to be a part of this community,” Peters-Bahkou said. “The theatre community is pretty fantastic.”