From Hand-Drawn Sketches to Award-Winning Designs, Logan Priest Brings the Lion King to life

Logan Priest of Parkland. {courtesy}

By Faran Fagen

Mufasa’s symbol was strength, Rafiki’s was wisdom, Scar’s was jealousy, Nala’s was love, and Simba’s was freedom.

Logan Priest of Parkland began working on his Lion King designs at the start of the school year, where he spent many hours researching African warriors, royalty, and symbols. Now, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School freshman will compete at the state level for the Florida Thespians State Festival in Tampa from March 14-18.

“This was Logan’s first district thespians competition and his first time competing for costume design,” said mom, Lisa Priest. “We didn’t know what to expect, but the competition was like a whirlwind of excitement and emotion when he received all the recognition for his designs.”

Logan was one of several Eagles selected for States from District 7, which includes Broward County.

With 60 Performance Arts and Technical Theatre Category Events, MSD Drama was awarded 37 Superior ratings and 21 Excellent ratings.

Critics’ Choice for the district went to Logan LaPierre for Solo Musical, Gabby Hoffman and Lisa Navarro for Playwriting, Jacob Harris for Publicity Design, and Logan for Costume Design (State Selected for Technical Category).

One Act — State Selected Henry’s Law — will also perform in Tampa in March with All-Star Cast member Haley Morris and Lead Actor Logan LaPierre.

Logan Priest’s designs {courtesy}

For his part, Logan drew each design by hand and designed them with Prismacolor pencils. He then selected fabrics that would represent his design sketches and the characters.

“Logan has been creative for as long as I can remember,” Lisa said. “Once upon a time, he was a little boy who was drawing figures and making cut-outs. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it was truly the beginnings of costume design.”

Mom’s favorite part of the thespian’s competition is that Logan was awarded the Charlie Cinnamon Scholarship from the Florida Theatrical Association for his Lion King designs. This will allow Logan to pursue visual arts and musical theatre opportunities this summer.

Logan spent many years studying the visual arts and musical theatre. More of his unique designs will be displayed in the program for the upcoming production of Head over Heels on March 9 and 10 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Logan, 15, also performs in addition to his passion for the visual arts. He has a role as Dr. Dan in The Musical Adventure of Flat Stanley, which is part of Douglas Drama’s Children’s Theatre Project.

MSD Honorable Mention winners:

Duet Musical — Pearl Mass and Logan LaPierre

Large Group Musical: Adriana Pena, Alanis DeSouza, Alex Jolly, Angelina Kennedy, Ashley Fronstin, Ava Fronstin, Carly Gaynor, Jacob Harris, Kaelyn Bracco, Natalee Cohen, Nicholas Lemus, Nick Bedusa, Oliver Paul, Sydney Lotz, Zoe Schwartzberg

Costume Design — Malia Smith

Choreography — Nick Bedusa

Set Design — Gracy Fraysure

Makeup Design and Costume Construction — Boglarka Balazs

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Author Profile

Faran Fagen

Faran Fagen, who teaches high school journalism, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Journalism degree and from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Education. He's worked at The Palm Beach Post, SunSentinel, and MLB.com. He lives in Coral Springs with his wife and two children. Oh, and his three dogs -- who all think that they're his favorite.