{"id":17614,"date":"2017-01-30T14:37:39","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T19:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/news\/article.php?ArticleID=17614"},"modified":"2018-05-11T12:06:49","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T16:06:49","slug":"17614_a-festival-dedicated-to-love-of-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/2017\/01\/30\/17614_a-festival-dedicated-to-love-of-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"A Festival Dedicated to Love of Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

From January 3rd thru 7th, \u00a0Montclair State University was host to the 49th Annual American College Theater Festival [KCACTF.org<\/a>], an event which connects theatre students and faculty from schools across the north east.<\/p>\n

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Over winter break, 1100 ambitious theatre students hailing from New York, New Jersey, Delaware, The Virginias, Pennsylvania and Ohio gathered in studios from Life Hall to Kasser Theatre for an intensive of workshops, competitions and performances. The festival hosted by Montclair State is one of eight of the nation’s regional events where selected winners are invited to a week-long study experience at the sponsoring Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.<\/div>\n
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This year\u2019s event organizer, Debra Otte<\/strong>, explains, \u201cmost conferences held at Universities are geared toward faculty. \u00a0The festival, now in its 49th year, is designed specifically for the students attending. Of the 1100 students this year, half were first-time attendees.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Otte, who has been involved with the organization for 25 years, is a Montclair State professor and one-time KCACTF Regional and National Board Member.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe entire organization is run on a volunteer basis,\u201d she says, \u201cso we are able to survive by colleges and universities allowing us access to spaces, staff and buildings. \u00a0Our volunteers organize workshop rooms, set up the university theatre spaces and lighting, while serving as hosts to the eight shows of the festival.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is a place for faculty and students to come together and see shows from other colleges,\u201d says Otte.<\/div>\n
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The festival hosted daily competitions in every possible category one can imagine. \u201cHeather Benton<\/strong>, who is part of our Montclair State faculty, did a 3-day devised theatre initiative, for a team of students who created a theatre piece on the spot.” Mark Hardy<\/strong>, who is also on faculty, provided leadership in the Music Theatre Initiative and as Hospitality Coordinator. \u00a0“We could not have done this without the many contributions of time and talent from the theatre staffs here on campus and the great support we received from dining and custodial services,\u201d Otte shares.<\/div>\n
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In addition to theatre intensives, the Festival featured eight productions<\/a> from programs within the region. \u00a0Those included \u201cThe Long Christmas Ride Home\u201d<\/em> [West Chester University]<\/strong>, \u201canOther\u201d<\/em> [Queensborough Community College]<\/strong>, \u201cThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,\u201d<\/em> [Montclair State University]<\/strong>, \u201cWe Are Proud to Present A Presentation About the Herero of Namibia\u2026\u201d<\/em> [Indiana State University]<\/strong>, \u201cThe Accidental Death of an Anarchist,\u201d<\/em> [Stockton University]<\/strong>, \u201cSpeech and Debate\u201d<\/em> [Arcadia University]<\/strong>, \u201cHamlet Lost\/Found\u201d<\/em> [The Community College of Baltimore County]<\/strong>, and \u201cPoe: Master of the Macabre\u201d<\/em> [West Liberty University]<\/strong>.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEvery night of the festival there was a show in Memorial Auditorium and every day there were two in the university\u2019s Kasser Theater,\u201d Otte shares.<\/div>\n
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Montclair State\u2019s own 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/em> ran three sold out evenings at the Fox Theatre.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe festival\u2019s opening ceremonies included a Keynote Address by Liesl Tommy<\/strong>, the first woman of color to be ever nominated by the Tony Awards for Best Director<\/em>. \u00a0She shared her own story, encouraging the students to pursue their dreams, to fight for opportunity and equality, to prepare themselves through education and to believe in themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

National Awards<\/strong>
\n[Student will represent Region II at the National Festival in Washington DC or at the USITT Conference.]<\/sub><\/p>\n

Lauren Carroll<\/strong>, Scenic Design for Iphigenia
\nCheyenne Pellicoro<\/strong>, Costume Design for Aida
\nKatherine Wainscott<\/strong>, League of Regional Theatres Diversity Award, Festival Management
\nSamantha LaScala<\/strong>, Allied Design and Technologies Award, Makeup Design for Aida<\/p>\n

Nomination for National Category<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Production of a Play or Musical:
\n25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/p>\n

Region II Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eden Tayar<\/strong>, Regional Award in Costume Design for Iphigenia
\nNicole Ferrigno<\/strong>, Honorable Mention in Costume Design for 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
\nCurtis Shields<\/strong>, Honorable Mention in Lighting Design for Aida<\/p>\n

Music Theatre Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n

National Runner Up:\u00a0Sarah Libby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship
\n<\/strong>Emma Wagner<\/strong> and Dino Curia<\/strong> (alumnus) semi finalist<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montclair State University Hosts the Kennedy Center\u2019s American College Theater Festival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":117614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206204,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17614\/revisions\/206204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}