1100 Students Will Gather for 49th Annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

Western Connecticut State University will host 1,100 students and faculty from colleges and universities in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts at the Region One festival of the 49th annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), January 31-February 4, 2017. This is the fourth of eight weekly celebrations of excellence and achievement of theater in higher education. Individual participants and full-scale productions are eligible for awards recognizing excellence in the art and craft of theater. Individual awardees and representatives from selected productions will be brought to Washington, D.C., for an expenses-paid trip to the national festival, April 18-22, 2017 at the Kennedy Center. A comprehensive listing of awardees will be announced in mid-March 2017.

Productions invited to be showcased at the Region One festival are presented by CUNY LaGuardia Community College, Dean College, Siena College, and Western Connecticut State University. The four invited productions were selected from 44 eligible productions from the region.

Playwright and musician Stew will be the featured speaker at the opening event. A musician and an award-winning playwright, Stew is the writer behind the musical, Passing Strange, which was later developed into a film by Spike Lee. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2008, and was nominated for seven Tony Awards®, winning for Best Book of a Musical.

The national festival includes master classes with leading artists from the American theater, an opportunity for the student participants to engage with colleagues from across the nation, attendance at productions at leading Washington, D.C. theaters, interviews, auditions for scholarship and residency opportunities, and the national award ceremony recognizing:

· Outstanding Production of a Play, a Musical, a Classic, a New Play

· Outstanding Devised or Company-Generated Work

· Outstanding Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Design

· Outstanding Choreography or Movement Direction

· Outstanding Direction of a Play, Devised Work, and a Musical

· Outstanding Performances by an Actress and Actor