Thirteen UHM Students and 2 UHM Theatre Faculty Members traveled to Spokane, Washington to participate in the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival’s Region VII Conference. Although the students were out of their element weather-wise (the temperature was in the single digits and it snowed!), they huddled together to make the most of the festival.
Rachael Uyeno, an MFA candidate in Acting, won the Classical Acting Award while the Alohahas, the UH Improv Team made up of Christine Lamborn, Emily Steward, Annastasia Fiala-Watkins, Qalil Ismail, Jeff Brackett, Tyler Haugen, and Dylan Lee, was the Top Winner of Improv Award in both short-form and long-form improv.
Seven of the students who attended were nominees for the Irene Ryan Acting scholarship: Rachael Uyeno, Christine Lamborn, Qiaoer Zheng, Jorin Young, Emily Steward, Malia Wessel, and Dylan Lee. A scene from our 2017 Kyogen production of Power and Folly was also invited to be performed at the festival’s Evening of Invitational Scenes 2018. The scene performed was “The Lord and the Passerby” featuring Christine Lamborn and Qiaoer Zheng.
Three students (Tyler Haugen, Christine Lamborn, and Qalil Ismail) were selected to participate in a 10-minute Play Festival. These students auditioned with 200 other students attending the festival for only 26 open roles. Michelle Pitel received high praise from the coordinator of the Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy, Michael Phillips. She wrote four exposes on the week and its events, which can be found by clicking here.
Additionally, Jeff Brackett and Christine Lamborn received call backs for the Next Step Auditions. Jorin Young received a call back the Musical Theatre Auditions. Both Dylan Lee and Jorin Young were chosen to be members of the Diversity Performance. Professor of Theatre, Julie Iezzi, and Assistant Professor of Theatre, Stacy Ray, both led workshops which were attended by 50-70 students each.
The freezing temperatures and unfamiliarity with snow for some (it was Dylan Lee’s first time experiencing snow) did not stop UH from tackling KCACTF like professionals or stop them from having a great time! Even with the weather, the students had a great time building new relationships over fireplaces, soup, and karaoke. They even got to play soccer with an ice cube, explore the historical buildings in Spokane, and see some trains and smokestacks. Stacy Ray says, “Feedback for the week was that the move to Region VII was a huge success!”