February 26, 2019 

Acton Middle School eighth grader William Power received the Caleb Midkiff Young Performer Award at 20th Column Awards Gala on February 24, 2019, at the Irving Arts Center. 

Power performs both in Granbury and Cleburne, with recent Granbury Opera House credits in South Pacific, Shrek, Oliver!, and Mary Poppins as well as last year’s Granbury Theatre Academy summer show The Lion King Jr.  He is currently performing in Disney’s Newsies The Musical at Plaza Theatre in Cleburne. 

The eighth grader is a member of the AMS Choir and AMS theater arts program, where he performed in Signin’ in the Rain Jr. and worked on this school year’s Peter Pan Jr.  He also qualified for the All-Region Choir and competes with the One Act Play team. 

The award is named after Caleb Hugh Midkiff, a 13-year-old who passed away unexpectedly in November 2012. He performed as an actor, singer, and dancer in productions at several area theaters, and his resume included lead roles in several productions in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Honorees must be in grades 6-10 and have a background of working in both professional and non-professional theatres with multiple principal roles as well as a school background that involves extra-curricular activities other than theatre. The young performers must also exemplify the rare gift of creating and working in all artistic formats. 

The annual Column Awards recognize theater companies, actors, and technicians from around the Metroplex.

Power is pictured above as "Crutchie" in Newsies at Plaza Theatre.

photo by Hannah Midkiff/Plaza Theatre Company