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OPELIKA — On Aug. 22, Opelika High School Theatre Director Revel Gholston was presented with the 2026 Hall of Fame Award by the Alabama Conference of Theatre during a ceremony in Montgomery.
This prestigious awards honors “pioneers in Alabama theatre and is reserved for those individuals who have created something original or groundbreaking in Alabama theatre — innovative work that’s had lasting and wide-reaching impact, possibly even beyond state lines. This person sets the standard and inspires others through their legacy.”
Opelika City Schools, Opelika High School, current and former members of the Opelika High Theatre Society, OHTS parents and students would like to congratulate Gholston on this very deserved recognition.
“Revel Gholston has an extraordinary gift for seeing potential in students, often before they see it in themselves, and then helping them discover talents they never knew they had,” said OHS Principal Kelli Fischer. “His ability to bring out the very best in people, both on the stage and beyond it, is truly special. I can think of no one more deserving of induction into the Alabama Conference of Theatre Hall of Fame.”
Gholston began his career at Opelika High School in January 2001 and has produced and directed more than 78 productions so far in his career. He was selected as the Opelika High School Teacher of the Year in 2012 and the 2014 Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Conference of Theatre. He was honored with the ACT Dorothy Schwartz Outstanding Educator Award in 2023 and has served in multiple leadership roles with the Alabama Conference of Theatre.
His productions have won accolades across the State of Alabama and throughout the Southeast. “Children of Eden-Act II” (2016) and “The Quilt-A Musical Celebration” (2023) won “Best in Show” at the State Trumbauer Festival and earned Opelika High Theatre Society invitations to the Southeastern Theatre Conference. “The Drowsy Chaperone” (2015) and “Noises Off-Act II” (2024) were Top 5 “Best in Show” and Emily won “Best Set Design” in 2022.
The Opelika High Theatre Society was also chosen as the first high school in Alabama to perform Disney’s “Frozen.”
“[Revel] is the colleague who answers your late-night questions and pushes you to be better and leads with total integrity and humility — a champion, a mentor and our biggest cheerleader,” said his friend and colleague Jeff Glass, theatre director at Wetumpka High School. “There are very few people who have done more for our students, our teachers and our state and there is no one more deserving of this honor than Revel Gholston.”
