BWW Blog: Amanda Grillo - A Festival for the Books: A Reflection of the KCACTF Region 1 Festival

I recently had the pleasure of joining classmates in the participation of the 49th Annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for Region 1. I found myself immersed in a world of talented future theatre professionals and current professionals that helped to mold my experience and bring me one step closer to accomplishing my goal.

One of my favorite things was the variety of workshops they provided. There was honestly something for everybody. There were performance based workshops, tech/design workshops, stage management, directing, and just about anything else you could think of. You didn't have to stay with one area of study. I got to explore interests in both performance and tech. To name a few, I took stage combat, stage makeup, funny musical theatre, and homage to garbage (recycling in set design). There was no limit to what you took. There was a workshop on networking and how to build your resume.

A large part of the festival is the Irene Ryan and Maltby awards to which people are nominated for in categories of acting and singing, respectively. University of New Haven was privileged enough to have four nominees for the Irene Ryan award. Representing the university was Rose-Emma Lambridis (partnered with Brianna L'Ecuyer), Erica Quaedvlieg (partnered with Francesca Fontanez), Greg Pease (partnered with Michael Kennedy), and Zach Fontanez (partnered with Kiera Terrell). For the first time in the university's history of participating in the festival, [Zach] Fontanez and Terrell advanced past the preliminary round and eventually to the finals.

Here is a look at what my fellow participants thought of their time at the festival:

"I'm the first nominee from UNH to advance past the first round, which is a crazy thing to think about by itself, and then I made it all the way to the finals. On top of that, I spent a week doing what I love with a huge group of some of the coolest people I've ever met in my life." -Zach Fontanez (Irene Ryan finalist)

"There were a lot of great actors there. I had a blast getting to see them and it really brought a whole new level of passion to my own craft." -Greg Pease (Irene Ryan nominee)

"As a senior, it was great being able to attend KCACTF. I took full advantage of the workshops and was able to see a handful of shows. The classes were awesome, but it was also nice to be around so many fun people. Most importantly I was able to watch Zach and Keira every step of the way through the Irene Ryans, although they didn't win it all, they did a phenomenal job and I'm beyond proud." -Timothy M. Gadomski

"I think KCACTF was an amazing experience for too many reasons to list. The highlight though would be the encouragement to get out of the comfort zone. At one point, a few of us decided to take a tap class, for example. While we were probably the worst ones there, we pushed ourselves to try new things and learn with the opportunities we were granted, and I think that having that ability to choose discomfort to grow as a performer is incredible." Francesca Fontanez (scene partner to nominee, Erica Quaedvlieg)

I am so proud of my theatre family for truly excelling at pursuing their passions at the festival this year. It felt so good to participate this year and explore my interest and discover new talents and skills that I may not have thought of before. I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a theatre professional. I had the pleasure of running into people that I shared the stage with in junior high school and it was honestly so surreal to see the kind of phenomenal people that they grew to be. I look forward to the mini reunions in the future, and hope that they will be more frequent.

The semester is instore for some amazing shows coming its way.

Save the Date!

University of New Haven's Theater Program Presents:
Jennifer Haley's The Nether
Where: Bucknall Theater
When: March 1st-4th at 8pm
Tickets are "Pay what you will" at the door

Follow the UNH Theater Program on Social Media!
Twitter- @UNHTheater
Instagram- @UNHTheaterProgram
Facebook- University of New Haven Theater Program

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