ACTF: The End

Three seniors were passed onto the final round at the ACTF competition this past week in Humboldt, California. Although UP will not be represented in the national competition in Washington, D.C., the UP Theater program is very proud of their showing at the competition.

"Having six nominees make it to semi-finals, including every single Drama major in the class of 2011, was huge for UP," Danielle Larson said. "There is definitely a buzz over UP right now in the theater world."

UP Theater students who made it to the final round are...
Larson with her partner Phil Orazio
Senior Connor Bond, who was also partners with Orazio
Senior Alex Kirby with partner freshman Jordin Bradley


These three students were required to perform two scenes and a monologue. They were in the final competition with 16 other students from theater departments from Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

The two students who won the competition from ACTF, and will move onto the national competition in Washington D.C., were from University of Wyoming and Sacramento State University.

Although students from UP Theater were not selected for the national competition, ACTF was a good chance for the students to showcase their talent and acting skills.

"When we got to the rehearsal for the Final Round I was overwhelmed looking around the room at all of these wonderful actors who I'd seen in preliminaries and semifinals," Larson said. "I am incredibly honored and delighted that I was keeping company with them."

Larson, through her performance at ACTF, received a $1,500 scholarship to study with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this summer.

UP Theater students also excelled in other ways at the week long competition. Graduate student Erin Lucas was runner up in the directing competition at ACTF. Senior and playwright Conor Eifler also received accolades for his one-act play "It Happened at Mickey's" which was one of six plays to have a reading at ACTF.

Next up for UP Theater will be there performance of William Shakespeare's "Two Gentleman of Verona" which will begin its run March 3.

ACTF semifinalists have been announced!

It was an exciting night for UP theater students in Humboldt last night when it was announced that six students and their partners have moved on to the semi-final round at ACTF! The announcement came just after 5:00 about the 32 winners who will be passed on to the second round of the five day competition.

The nominated UP students in the semi-finals are:
Sammi Boyd
Danielle Larson
Jamie Kluth
Connor Bond
Conor Eifler
Alex Kirby

These students happen to be six of the eight graduating seniors within the theater program.

"I'm ecstatic to have this opportunity to move on to semi-finals," Kluth said. "It doesn't get much better than having the chance to do what you love for the rest of the world."

After being passed on to this second round, these six students will have perform two scenes with their partner under five minutes. Semi-finals have been pushed back from today until tomorrow morning in Humboldt, California. There is no word yet to why the second round has been delayed until tomorrow.

The third round winners, which will be narrowed from 32 to 16 students, will be announced tomorrow night.  The third round for the nominee will consist of two scenes with their partner as well as monologue of their chose. The judges will then decide the 2 nominees who will be performing in the national competition in Washington, D.C.

Fingers crossed for our six semi-finalists! 
More updates to come as the competition progresses!

It's ACTF time!

The UP Theater students left bright and early this morning for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) in Humboldt, California. With the 10 hour drive to Humboldt, the 40 students are getting ready for their “scholarship audition” for the Irene Ryan Audition/Acting Competition.

Their work will then be shown from Feb. 14-18 in Humboldt as the UP students will compete in the Irene Ryan competition. Students are nominated from their performances in the past year to participate in the Irene Ryan competition.

The nominated students each choose a scene partner to compete with them throughout the ACTF. Students choose two scenes based on their interests and strengths for the competition.

Nominee senior Sammi Boyd and her partner senior Charles Lattin chose scenes from “Baby with the Bathwater” by Christopher Durang and “Cymbeline” by William Shakespeare.

“It’s a chance to choose scenes that you have always wanted to work on. Baby With the Bathwater was a scene that I saw in class that I have always loved,” Boyd said. “Cymeline was just one that I found I thought was a good contrast. Shakespeare is tricky for female strong scenes so I found one that I liked and just went for it.”

Other scenes chosen by UP Theater students:

Nominee senior Jamie Kluth and senior Brian Burger – “Hunter Gatherers” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and “Ivanov” by Chekhov   

Nominee senior Connor Bond and senior Phil Orazio – “Julius Caeser” by William Shakespeare and a song from “Into the Woods” by Steven Sondheim

Nominee senior Sydney Syverson and sophomore Kimo Camat – “At Home” by Michael Weller and “Scripted” by Mary Harvey Levine

Last year Orazio and his scene partner, UP graduate student Michael O’Neill, were regional champions for the Irene Ryan competition. The year before, Orazio and partner Danielle Larson advanced to the final round and competed in Washington D.C.

What is ACTF?

UP Theater will be competing with other schools in the Region VII division, which has various theatre departments from Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. There are eight regions in the country.

ACTF focuses on theatre education and also aims to bring theatre students from many universities together to compete and learn from various workshops that are taught during the festival.

How does ACTF work?

The competition consists of three rounds during the five-day festival. The 32 winners of the first round go onto perform in the second round, which requires two scenes to be performed in less than five minutes.

The nominees are then cut down to 16 for the third round, which allows six minutes for two scenes and the nominee's monologue. It is after the final performance that the judges pick the two nominees who will advance to the national competition.

Updates to come as the UP Theater competes in Humboldt this week!