Sedalia, Missouri – Feb. 8, 2023 – State Fair Community College Theatre Arts students and staff received awards and recognitions at the annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) for Region 5 that was held in January in Des Moines, Iowa. Region 5 includes colleges and universities in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
In the Musical Theatre category, the KCACTF awarded the Musical Theatre Intensive (MTI) Recognition Acting Award to Alex Knudsen of Branson for his performance of ‘Stranger’ from “Big Fish.” He was one of three students who received the award out of 180 who competed in the Region 5 festival.
Amollie Stoermer of Sedalia and Kaitlyn Wilson of Springfield received an MTI Cabaret Showcase Selection for their duet performance of ‘I Will Never Leave You’ from “Side Show.” Only four selections were invited to perform at the Region 5 festival.
Among the top 20 named MTI Finalists were Knudsen and Wilson. Among the top 87 MTI students named were Ainsley McKellips of Coffeyville, Kansas, and Stoermer.
In the Acting category for the 10-minute play reading competition, Braden Miller of Platte City, Quincy Wilson of Oak Grove, and Stoermer were selected for one of 20 available roles at the festival. Professional audition callbacks were extended to Ethan Courter of Knob Noster, Stoermer, Knudsen, and Wilson. Ryan Mahannah, SFCC’s Theatre Arts program coordinator and instructor, participated in the Faculty Acting Showcase.
Five Certificates of Merit were awarded to SFCC students and faculty. For the performance of “Heathers: The Musical,” Mahannah received a certificate for fight direction; Annie Henson of Clever and Miller received a certificate for costume design. For the performance of “The Rainbow Fish Musical,” Wilson received a certificate for scene design, Audrey Phillips of Higginsville for make-up design, and Miller for costume design.
KCACTF is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country. Since its inception, KCACTF has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued, improve their dramatic skills and receive national recognition for excellence. More than 16 million theatergoers have attended approximately 10,000 festival productions nationwide (source: www.kennedy-center.org/education).
