Miya Livingston, Dominion’s Head Cappies Critic of two years, was awarded Graduating Critic at the Blue Ridge Cappies Gala on May 23, which includes a $1000 scholarship from the Cappies program for her achievements. Livingston was the first critic to receive a scholarship from the Blue Ridge Cappies program.

Livingston helped revive the cappies program at Dominion after COVID paused high school theater programs. “Miya is an incredibly hard worker and she’s very modest so I think that she’s receiving the recognition that she deserves and I’m so so proud of her,” Titan Theatre actress and cappies critic Ella Greer said.

According to theater teacher Doc Worth, Livingston’s contributions to Titan Theatre expanded beyond her role as Lead Cappie Critic. “She helps us build our Cappies technical boards and advises the tech crew on how to build their boards so that they’re eligible for [Cappies] awards as well,” Worth said.

Livingston began working with Titan Theater as a techie her freshman year and learned about the cappies program her junior year when she took on the responsibilities of lead critic. “My junior year, I had a group of seven and I was also nominated [that] year, but I didn’t win last year,” she said.

Leading a group of eleven students in her senior year, Livingston’s duties included “making sure every [critic] is there on time, spending hours editing each review and generally being there as a resource at all times,” Greer said.

According to Livingston, the Cappies are the high school equivalent of the Tony Awards. “There’s awards based on the best technical categories like lighting and sound, and the students all vote and choose the winners,” she said.

The Best Critic is the only statistical award that isn’t voted on and is instead calculated based on show attendance and pieces written. “Every time you go to a show, a group of students will talk about what they see, what they like, what they don’t like and then they’ll write reviews. Then the best written ones are chosen to be published,” Livingston said.

Cappies reviews are published in a variety of local newspapers such as The Cappies Newspaper and the Loudoun Times Mirror according to Livingston. Livingston wrote seven reviews from attending every show permitted, earning her the title of Graduating Critic. “In addition to four shows that you’re assigned at the beginning of the year to go to, you can also volunteer for up to three, so I went to all seven shows that I could have gone to,” Livingston said.

Livingston is pursuing computer science at University of Virginia next year where she is interested in working on The Cavalier Daily and joining an acapella group and the theater group. “She’s one of those kids that’s going to be amazing as she moves forward,” Worth said.

“It’s honestly a strange feeling just because I’ve never really felt like a theater student or a ‘theater kid’ because I’ve just not been on stage. So it’s a little bit interesting being the one to be recognized and having to represent the school in this way,” Livingston said.