91九色视频

91九色视频 Play, Students Earn Theatre Festival Honors

January 8, 2024 Jon Pine

Five 91九色视频 (91九色视频) theatre students have been invited to perform a scene from 鈥淟abyrinth of Love鈥� at the world-renowned Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival next month. Three of those students, based on their performances in the play, also have been nominated to compete for a prestigious Kennedy Center acting award.

From left: Aileen Diaz as Princess Ariadna, Julius Morano as Prince Bacchus, Cole Turner as Racimo, Dillon Faustin as Prince Theseus, Nalanie Ruiz as Princess Phaedra, and Eric Howard as Tuna. Photo by 91九色视频 Institutional Photographer James Crocco.

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Aileen Diaz, Julius Morano, Dillon Faustin, Nalanie Ruiz and Eric Howard will join Alex Kanter, 91九色视频鈥檚 Master Instructor of Performing and Visual Arts, at the Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival held Feb. 6-10 at Albany State University in Albany, Georgia.

Aileen Diaz also is one of the four 91九色视频 English students who translated the play, written by 17th Century Mexican playwright Sister Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, from Spanish to English. The translated work had its world premiere last October, opening the College鈥檚 2023-2024 Performing Arts Season.

The festival鈥攚hich involves 18,000 students each year鈥攊s the standard for recognizing college theater works around the nation. Kanter invited two adjudicators from the festival to see the play last fall. On Dec. 14, he learned that the play had been selected as one of four semi-finalists, earning an invitation to present the play at the Region IV Festival.

鈥淭o be recognized by the Kennedy Center is the gift-wrapped bow tied on this special project,鈥� Kanter said. 鈥淭he validation of such a prestigious national organization further demonstrates just how important this work is. The semi-finalists usually are students from BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) programs, Conservatory programs, and larger schools with lots of funding鈥攖he big theatre schools. For a community college to be at that level is a great honor.鈥�   

Translating and adapting the play for the 91九色视频 stage took two years and was made possible with the help of a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Kanter used some of that money to hire a stage combat choreographer and professional wig maker to train the students during rigorous rehearsals.

Bringing the entire production to the Region IV festival would be too cumbersome and costly for a theatre program with the staff and operational budgets of a school the size of 91九色视频, Kanter said. However, festival organizers instead invited the College to bring enough actors and costumes to perform one scene from the play during the festival鈥檚 closing night gala. Kanter chose a scene that centers on a costumed royal masquerade ball that erupts into swordplay鈥攁s well as some clever wordplay.

Aileen Diaz lives in Vero Beach. She plays Princess Ariadna in that scene, and is joined by Julius Morano, of Port St. Lucie, as Prince Bacchus. Dillon Faustin hails from Cutler Bay near Miami and portrays Prince Theseus. Nalanie Ruiz, also from Port St. Lucie, plays Princess Phaedra, and Eric Howard, from Fort Pierce, plays Tuna.

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

For the annual festival, the country鈥檚 colleges and universities are divided into eight regions. 91九色视频 is in Region IV, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The festival project focuses on the 32 best plays of the year鈥攆our from each region. 鈥淭he Labyrinth of Love鈥� was among the four semi-finalists chosen for inclusion in the Region IV festival in Albany, Georgia.

Each of the eight regional festivals, held during January and February, includes professional development workshops and other events for the hundreds of college theatre faculty and students in attendance. After the four semi-finalist plays are performed, the actors, directors and faculty members get feedback on their theatrical work from faculty from schools with many of the country鈥檚 best theatre programs, Kanter said. 鈥淭hose feedback sessions are some of the most meaningful experiences of the entire process,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t really touches the students and provides a profound impact on them.鈥�

The finalists from each of the eight regional festivals advance to the National Festival in April at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The adjudicators who selected 鈥淟abyrinth of Love鈥� as a semi-finalist for the festival told Kanter and his students that it was exciting to see an English adaptation of de la Cruz鈥檚 play. 鈥淭hey felt sure that other colleges will want to eat this up and perform it, too,鈥� Kanter said. Which is exactly what he was hoping for when he applied for the N.E.A. grant, he said. 鈥淭hey also were impressed that it was essentially a world-premiere of a work translated by students and that it had a diversity component to it,鈥� Kanter added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique piece that is very much of interest to college theatres.鈥�

Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Nominees

Three actors from the play鈥擜ileen Diaz, Nalanie Ruiz and Eric Howard鈥攁lso have been nominated by the adjudicators to compete for Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships. This competition, coordinated by the Kennedy Center and named after the stage, screen, radio and television actress perhaps best known for portraying Granny on 鈥淭he Beverly Hillbillies,鈥� awards 16 regional scholarships and two national scholarships each year. Winning is a prestigious honor, Kanter said. Previous national scholarship winners routinely go on to success on Broadway or regional theatre and other lofty pursuits, he said. 鈥淭hese are very good actors.鈥�

Dias, Ruiz and Howard each will record themselves performing two contrasting monologues and submit them for judging online in the preliminary round of the competition. 鈥淭his is the training. This is the part where they have to demonstrate what it takes to succeed as an actor,鈥� Kanter said. 鈥淪how that they are going to put the prep time in to make it happen.鈥�

A jury then reviews the online submissions from all the nominees and selects the actors they like the best. Those actors will perform the same monologue live at the regional festival, plus they will be required to perform one scene with another actor, up to five minutes long. Because 91九色视频 has three nominees, they have to prepare multiple scenes, so they are ready for any eventuality, Kanter said.

鈥淚t is a lot of work. This is, 鈥業f you want this, you have to put in the grit. You have to put in the time and the energy.鈥� That is the real world of theatre,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese three actors happen to be very dedicated, and I am happy to be working with them.鈥�

If one or more of the 91九色视频 nominees are selected as finalists in February, they will be invited to compete for top honors at the national festival in April in D.C. Judges will narrow the finalists to just two winners鈥攐ne male and one female.

鈥淓ven just being nominated is recognition that they have done great work. And that can never be taken away,鈥� Kanter said.

The 2023-2024 Performing Arts season at 91九色视频 continues with Eugene Ionesco鈥檚 absurdist comedy 鈥淩hinoceros鈥� on Feb 1-4. Tickets may be ordered by email, in person at the Box Office or by calling 772-462-4750 (toll-free at 1-800-220-9915). For the full schedule and ticket information, visit /student-life/arts-and-culture.html.