Former Severna Park High School Arts Educator Earns Annie Award

For the last 24 years, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County has recognized county individuals for their contributions to the arts in their communities. This year’s roster of nine highly talented and passionate individuals includes a familiar name for anyone who had a child graduate from Severna Park High School in the last 40 years.

Angela Germanos, who retired from Severna Park High School (SPHS) in 2022 after more than four decades in art education, has earned top billing in the Arts Education category. She taught theater, Russian and French, first at Chesapeake High School, and then Severna Park High School, where she directed the tremendously popular “Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival,” now heading into its 36th year.

Germanos was nominated by longtime collaborator Nancy Almgren, who founded the Anne Arundel County Battle of the Bands in 1999, in which Germanos first entered the talented musicians from SPHS.

“Of course, I knew about the Annie Awards, but I never expected to receive such an honor,” Germanos said. “And to know that I was nominated by Nancy, who has made a tremendous impact to the arts herself, makes the recognition extra special. I also found out that several of the team members of ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival’ wrote letters of recommendation to the council, so that’s very nice, too.”

Germanos may not be teaching in the school system these days, but her impact on the arts and continued arts education for students of all ages now reaches well beyond the confines of the 21146 zip code.

In her retirement, she has been active with Annapolis ROCKS, through Encore Creativity for Older Adults (55 and older). Germanos is a cast member of the Pasadena Theatre Company’s production of “A Christmas Carol” in which she plays Scrooge’s maid, Mrs. Dibler. In 2023, she directed “Matilda” for 2nd Star Productions, a community theater in Bowie, Maryland.

She also acted in Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church’s production of “Secret Garden,” during which time she also oversaw props and filled the role of Mrs. Pierce for the Bowie-based St. Matthew’s Musical Theatre Troupe’s presentation of “My Fair Lady.” She plans to audition for the “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” an upcoming Woods production.

“I am now teaching drama for a homeschool group, and they are preparing to present ‘Our Town,’” Germanos said proudly, with a beaming smile. “I’ll be taking the group to New York City to see Jim Parsons and Katie Holmes in the revival of ‘Our Town’ in January. Many of the children have never seen live theater or been to New York (City), so I am very excited to expose them to that.”

Germanos is active with the drama program at Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church and led the 2024 vacation Bible school children’s depiction of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

As busy as she is, Germanos makes sure to catch many live theater productions, including following as many talented former Severna Park students as she can, and watching audition calls to see what she might be interested in.

“I’m always going to shows because there are so many great options in our area,” Germanos said. “I like to keep up with former student musicians and actors, and people I’ve met during my own past shows. I support the people I know, and they support me. We have a wonderful community in this area.”

Among all her accomplishments, Germanos fondly remembers many of her former students and thoroughly enjoys learning they are active in the arts or have even made the arts their full-time career.

While attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival, Germanos loves to watch performances by Sage Snider, a fiddler pirate in the cast. Germanos also follows the career of Snider’s brother Solon, who after singing with Yale University Whiffenpoofs, is now an accomplished composer and director in New York City, recently featured in a Billy Joel video.

Other former Falcons include Ben Mallare, who owns Ben Mallare Events & Entertainment and recently opened for Kelly Clarkson in Los Angeles, and Matt Hutchinson, whose band Fools and Horses opened for Bon Jovi in Washington, D.C.

Germanos also attends local vocal performances of Parijita Bastola and Josee Molavi, just to name a few of her former students.

SPHS graduate and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival” alumni Colin Benedict recalled Germanos’ leadership with great admiration.

“You never had to worry about the production, since you knew if Ms. Germanos was directing, it would always turn into a smash hit,” said Benedict of the highly anticipated annual SPHS production. “She knew when to criticize and when to praise. She has a calm and collected demeanor — an essential trait to have in a stressful time crunch. Above all, it was always fun to be a part of her production.”

Germanos said, “I love sharing the love of theater and the arts. To know that former students are singing on cruise ships, dancing on Broadway, or active in or regularly attending any other form of live performance makes me very, very happy, and humbled, actually.”

The joyful Severna Park resident has no intentions of stepping away from teaching. “I’ll stay involved as long as there are kids that want to learn!” she said.

The Annie Awards were established in 2000 to recognize individuals for lasting, significant and inspiring contributions to an art form, an arts organization, and the wider community of Anne Arundel County. Nine 2024 winners were recently announced in the categories of Arts Education, Arts Leadership, Arts Maverick, Arts Patron, Historic Arts, Literary Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, and Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.

Awards will be presented on November 11 at Maryland Hall in Annapolis. To learn more about the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, the Annie Awards, including present and past winners, or to purchase tickets to the event, visit www.acaac.org.