A Week of Accolades, Celebration, and Opportunities for ISU Theatre Students

Twenty students and their faculty members from the Department of Theatre and Dance at ISU traveled to Spokane, Washington for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region 7 Festival on February 18-23. While there, they performed Life x 3 by special invitation. The department, students, and faculty brought home numerous awards.

“It was an incredible conference and ISU really stood out in how they represented there,” says Depatment of Theatre and Dance Chair and Professor of Theatre Tara Young. Young says that attendig the conference is an incredible life learning experience for students. “When students participate in conferences, it helps them realize that the entertainment industry is so paramount to their learning and growth. It shows them you can do this. You can make a living as an artist and have an impact.” Additionally, students arranged their own schedules, participation, and traveling arrangements for the festival.

Vanessa Ballam, Professor of Theatre described it as a week of celebration and learning with programming from 8 a.m. to midnight everyday with workshops, performance opportunities, competitions, and more for ISU students to participate in. 

The College of Arts and Letters and The Office of Research provided financial support to almost every student and Young deemed this opportunity significant enough to invest department funds to bring the show to the festival and represent ISU on a national level.

Madysen Stewart, a Junior majoring in theatre says, “As the Assistant Director of Life x 3, it was thrilling to be chosen to perform our piece in person! It was a huge honor for us, and an absolute blast! We were so blessed to have the opportunity to bring such a fun show and have everyone be recognized for their hard work.”

The Department won the Golden Hand Truck Award, which goes to the school that demonstrates excellence in their load-in process during the festival. Faculty members describe the complications of bringing an entire staged production across the state to Washington. When faculty member and Technical Director of the show, Chad Rodgers, received the dimensions of the performance space in Washington, he had to build a smaller turntable. Students and faculty collaborated to re-stage the show, including blocking for the actors, lighting, and set design. Judges noted that ISU members were extremely positive and kind throughout the process.

“I was in awe of what the students did. It was a true testament of community building,” Ballam says.

Young adds that taking a show and remounting it somewhere else is an incredible learning experience to the students. “These are real troubleshooting activities that must happen,” Young says. “It gives them incredibly important professional experience.”

During the festival, students also participated in many enriching events, including the 10-minute play festival. Auditions for the 10-minute plays took place on the first day of the festival, casts rehearsed during the course of the conference, then performed at the end. Four students from ISU were cast and students Eric Lundell and Jazz Grant both performed as lead actors.

Several ISU students competed in Musical Theatre Initiative. Three students progressed to the finals where they had the opportunity to have their pieces coached by musical theatre industry professionals, which Ballam considers even more valuable than the award.

Niona Seabury received the Irene Ryan Classical Acting Award. This award recognizes one student in the region who demonstrates excellence with classical texts. Niona performed Isabel from Measure for Measure. “It was really exceptional,” says Ballam. “Niona’s performance was transformative.”

Leoni Gambee and Sarah Senner achieved recognition with their team at Improv Olympics as Best House Team. Nathan Templeton won the Musical Theatre Cabaret Award, an audience choice award from the Late Night Cabaret Competition for his performance of "Noel's Lament.”

Positions within KCACTF are all volunteer based. In his position as Respondent Coordinator, Paul Yeates is active in bringing professionals from WA, OR, ID, HI, AK to the conference. Faculty members Paul Yeates, Vanessa Ballam, Tara Young, and Jef Petersen led workshops, organized conference events, and directed activities.

ISU Faculty members were recognized with incredibly prestigious theatre awards. Jef Petersen received the Gold Medallion recognition from the Kennedy Center which is considered one of the highest honors in theatre education.

“It was unanimous that Jef receive the Gold Medallion,” says Ballam. “He's been involved with KCACTF for ten years and his work has impacted Region 7 in a profound way from the beginning.” 

“The work I do is all for the students,” says Jef Petersen. “The festival is life-changing and I'm happy to be part of the leadership.” 

 Ballam received the Acting Teacher of Excellence Award from the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, who partner with KCACTF to recognize exceptional teachers of acting. This award recognizes an outstanding acting teacher from their region who demonstrates excellence in teaching and a commitment to developing their craft as an acting teacher. This is both a recognition and a training. Ballam will go to Los Angeles or New York this summer to participate in a ten day training intensive. “I will be able to bring training back to ISU and be a better acting teacher because of this,” she says.

Ballam says it’s an honor to be able to investigate how the festival can serve and celebrate students, connecting them to future opportunities and helping them make important connections that enrich their experience as students and give them opportunities in the professional world of theatre.

We cannot give you the full scope for what it takes for someone to plan a festival like this. This was the best-run festival I've been to for ten years and it's because of her joy and dedication," Peterson said.