Once again, CSU students competed at the annual Region 7 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), which brings together exceptional student actors and technicians from across the western states.
The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival is a national theatre program, with over 20,000 participants annually, and, according to the organization’s website, “For 46 years, the organization has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.”
The KCACTF network of 700 academic institutions throughout the country includes Region 7, comprised of nine western states: Alaska, northern Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., northern Nev., Ore., Wash., and Wyo. Over 1,000 theatre students from Region 7 convened in Denver from Feb. 20-24, 2017 to participate in workshops; attend symposia, colloquies, and professional presentations; work with resident artists; and compete for honors, awards, and scholarships for their creative accomplishments in theatre productions at staged at their schools.
Accompanied by Professor of Set Design Roger Hanna, this year, CSU students collected awards in design. “We won seven categories, despite what I thought was considerably better competition than last year, specifically in the areas of scenery and costumes,” said Hanna.
Awards
National Winner: Cooper Adams, sound design for Boy
Regional Winner: David Van Name, lighting design for Ubu Roi
Regional Winner: Emily Mondaldi, stage management for Die Fledermaus
Meritorious Achievement: Abby Jordan, costume design for Ubu Roi
Additionally, three out of five available scholarships to the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas – each a one-week, all-expenses paid trip to study the subject of their choice such as pyrotechnics, board programming, etc. – were awarded to CSU theatre majors: Cooper Adams, Lua Frontczak, and Tristan LeMaster.
Professor Hanna couldn’t hide his excitement over the achievement. “This is a ridiculous percentage given that there were close to 100 students competing [for scholarships], and we took nine students.”
Cooper Adams, who received a national award for sound design, is now eligible for the KCACTF national competition finals held in April in Washington, D.C.
While CSU students have placed at regionals for at least the last ten years, this is the third year in a row that a CSU student has won a Region 7 national slot. “I am remarkably proud that our students won these major awards in every design and management category that we entered: set design, costume design, lighting design, sound design, and stage management,” exclaimed Hanna.