NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 8, 2025) — Four New Rochelle High School students received “Highest Achievement” awards for their performances in the school’s fall drama production, Murder’s in the Heir, at the 2nd Annual Eastern Student Artist Guild (ESAG) Awards held last Sunday at Iona University’s Murphy Auditorium.
Seniors Daniel O’Malley and Bex Tamrat earned top honors in the Best Actor in a Comedy category for their roles as Simon Starkweather III/Simon and Detective Mikey Davis, respectively. Mike Arreaga and Elsa Confalone were recognized in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category for their portrayals of Jordan Starkweather and Fiona Starkweather. The entire cast also won Best Ensemble in a Comedy for their collaborative performance.
The ESAG Awards celebrate high school theater excellence across the Lower Hudson Valley, with theater directors from 14 schools nominating students across 22 categories, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, and Best Overall Production. New Rochelle was among the schools submitting 16 productions for adjudication.
Murder’s in the Heir, a murder-mystery-comedy directed by Michelle Shapiro, features an interactive element where audiences vote on the killer. The production, stage-managed by senior Alan Dimond, ran for four performances at New Rochelle High School in November. Arreaga and Confalone performed monologues from the play at the awards ceremony.
“To watch this cast and crew step up and help support one another has been an honor,” Shapiro said in her speech, praising the school’s PAVE acting program and TheatreWorks. “I witnessed nothing but a true ensemble of collaboration, communication, trust, and kindness, and I am so very proud of each and every one of them.”
Shapiro emphasized the importance of the process beyond the performance. “I believe that our experience leading to the actual performance is the most important part of the process; it is the relationships we build, the education we gain, the skills we polish, the snacks we eat, and ultimately the memories we share and get to look back on, and it’s why we keep doing it over and over,” she said.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.