by Maggie Ganley–From January 21-27, theater students from Morningside College showcased their talents in the limelight at the Kennedy Center American College Festival (KCACTF) in Des Moines.
Fourteen students accompanied Prof. Taylor Clemens to this festival.
Madison Schueth, a junior who participated in the festival, explained, “This festival offers so many opportunities for so many theatre kids across the nation. The events that occur daily are mostly workshops that range from acting, to lighting, to costume design, writing, and dancing. This allows students to help network with these other professionals in order to make their way into the theatre world.”
Students who went to the show participated in a variety of the workshops and competitions offered.
Clemens Summarized the weekend’s performances:
• Five students (Amy Jackson, Joey Volquartsen, Engels Perez, Allison Linafelter, Brock Bourek) and their partners (Kailyn Robert, Grant Turner, Eric Wells, and Maddie Schueth) competed in the Irene Ryan acting scholarship competition.
• Joey Volquartsen auditioned for numerous professional theatre companies from around the nation and received several callbacks.
• Amy Jackson auditioned and got into a Musical theater intensive where she got to work hands on with Broadway choreographers and directors preparing for a show they got to perform at the conference.
• Annalee Dorsey competed in the Stage management competition. She had to present some of her stage management work from Morningside as well as Stage Manage a show at the conference. Annalee also competed in a scenic design competition where she presented her design for Morningisde’s production of “Princess and the Pea.” Annalee did professional interviews with theatre companies from across the nation.
• Recent Graduate Erica Young presented her costume design for “Princess and the Pea” and participated in professional auditions and interviews.
• Student Morgan Polenske, who could not attend the conference due to studying abroad, received an award/recognition from the Kennedy Center region 5 for her Scenic Design for Morningside’s Production of “Quilters”.
• The Cast and Crew of Morningside’s production of “Princess and the Pea” received and award/recognition from the Kennedy Center region 5 for Ensemble Performance. Along with that all of the students got a chance to meet and network with professional from the region and from across the nation.
Unfortunately, none of the students advanced past the first round. As Schueth said, “There are about 317 students nominated, and after the first round only 65 make it to the second, so it is very cut throat.”
Learning Experience
Even though none of them advanced, the students and Clemens both found it to be an amazing learning experience and a great way to network with other professionals.
Joey Volquartsen said, “Being able to showcase my talents both in workshops, in competitions, and in auditions I know will reflect well on me and also on Morningside. It’s always good to leave a good reputation of Morningside outside of our community.”
Not only that, but it reminded the students and Clemens alike as to why they fell in love with theater in the first place.
For Schueth, it’s the acting and the people. “My favorite part about being in theatre is definitely the acting. Acting for me is the best thing in the world, it is so much fun to be someone I am not in order to entertain people. Along with the acting, I love being able to meet new people, or getting to know new people. Theatre brings so many talented people together. All kinds of different people coming together to entertain thousands sometimes, is just a spectacular event/feeling for me.”
For Volquartsen, it’s the atmosphere. “There were probably over a thousand theater kids that just took over downtown Des Moines for a week and it’s very interesting to see people who weren’t involved in the festival just kind of like standing in awe of all of these dramatic kids just randomly dancing down the street. It’s just a really fun environment.”
And for Clemens, it’s the intrigue of an ever changing environment. “My favorite part of being in the theatre department is that things are constantly changing. We are always starting new project and shows. I love getting to collaborate with students and guest artists in order to make theatre come to life. I love that we get to tell stories to the campus community as well as the whole Siouxland area.”
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