Bay Area high school performance artists vie for Beach Blanket Babylon scholarship

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Nine Bay Area High School seniors put their talents to the test in hopes of securing a $15,000 scholarship.

For the past 17 years, Producer Jo Schuman Silver has put on the contest sponsored by the Steve Silver Foundation and Beach Blanket Babylon.

It's one of the largest and most prestigious performance arts scholarships in the region. Every year, hundreds of students send in video applications in hopes of being one of three finals in acting, dance and voice.

"I watch all of them, over and over because I have the final say of it," said Schuman Silver. "So when I see them up there, it's so emotional watching what they look like in their tape, rehearsing and then performing."

This year's winners:

• Acting: Dante Cokinos - Novato High School, Novato and will be attending Emerson College in Boston majoring in film
• Dance: Kyleigh Colchico - Clayton Valley Charter High School, Concord and will be attending UCLA majoring in dance
• Voice: Armand Akbari - Sacred Heart Prepartory, Atherton and will be attending USC and majoring in musical theater

Schuman Silver announced this would be the last season for Beach Blanket Babylon at Club Fugazi on Green St after 45 years of irreverent fun in San Francisco. She would not comment on continuing the scholarship after the show, but a source said there will be an effort to keep the prize going.