"Color Purple" lead Keston Steele makes magazine cover

Keston Steele, now a senior at Northwest School of the Arts, is on the cover of "Dramatics," the Educational Theatre Association's monthly national magazine that covers high school theater.

Keston played the lead role of Celie in the production.

The picture was taken during a performance of "The Color Purple" at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Neb., this summer.

About 75 students from Northwest School of the Arts went to Nebraska for the festival after struggling to raise about $130,000 to get there. The festival is considered the World Series of high school theater, and Northwest was the first North Carolina school to get an invitation in 33 years. Students involved said both the musical and the festival were opportunities of a lifetime.

Northwest was also the second high school in the country to get permission to perform "Purple." The musical was chosen to be the festival's featured performance.

At the festival, Ariel Blake, who played Squeak in the musical, was scouted and received a scholarship, said Andy Lawler, a Northwest teacher. Ariel is now attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.