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UCM THEATRE AND DANCE PRESENTS AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS AT ANNUAL BANQUET
By Alex Greenwood, May 2, 2024
UCM Theatre and Dance held its annual Awards & Scholarship Banquet April 27 at 6 p.m. on the Highlander Stage on the University of Central Missouri campus. UCM’s Theta Alpha Phi, National Theatre Honorary Fraternity, hosted the banquet with nearly 75 faculty, students, and guests, awarding 41 scholarships worth $59,000 to current and incoming Theatre & Dance students.
The Theta Alpha Phi organization presented the following awards: Outstanding Performance in a Mainstage Play to Grace Clark; Outstanding Performance in a Mainstage Musical to Chris Schilligo; Outstanding Dancer in a Mainstage show to Miranda Muenz; Outstanding Choreography in a Mainstage show to Miranda Muenz; Outstanding Mainstage Dramaturgy to Allison Carter; Outstanding Mainstage Stage Management to Joe Devero; Outstanding Mainstage Lighting Design to Gracie Heath; Outstanding Mainstage Properties Design to Molly Blackburn; Outstanding Mainstage Scenic Design to Dalima Kapten; The Hugh Hocking Memorial Award for Superior Technical Theatre to Gracie Heath. The award for Outstanding Contribution to the Studio One-Act Theatre was presented to Makezie Lewis and Keyvon Lewis and the Outstanding Contribution to a Black Box production was presented to Quinn Allen. The Outstanding Theatre Freshman Award was presented to Reagan Medlock, and the Guiding Lighting Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Senior, was awarded to Miranda Muenz. The Theatre & Dance faculty members presented the Outstanding Theatre Student Awards to Miranda Muenz & Shanna Sinow. New initiates into the honorary Theatre fraternity, Theta Alpha Phi, and the UCM Chapter of the National Honor Society of Dance Arts, were also recognized and presented with graduation cords.
Numerous scholarships were presented throughout the evening by students, faculty, and donors. The scholarship recipients included, The New Theatre Guild McDowell Family Scholarship presented to Alannah Trigg; The New Theatre Guild Mary Wyram Family Scholarship presented to Rosalyn Schuster; The New Theatre Dennis D. Hennesy and Richard Carrothers Scholarship to Alyna Mathews; The New Theatre Arlene Krings Memorial Scholarship to Jacob Collins and the New Theatre Guild Highlander-See was presented to Raegan Weber; the James L. Highlander Theatre Scholarship was presented to Paige Showen and Ashley Singh; the Mancow Muller Theatre Scholarship was presented to Emily Turner; the Loneta Pearce Scholarship for the Promotion of Theatre Arts was presented to Wesley Freemant; the Charles G. and Laura Keynon Kuhn Distinguished Theatre Artist Award was presented to Nicholas Dmitry Crawford, Mason Enright, Samuel Fischer, and Arianna Kendrick; the Lucy Bergman Memorial Scholarship in Theatre was presented to Grace’e Carr, Xander Corkins, Joseph Devero, and CJ Miller; the Virgil E. See Theatre Scholarship was presented to Quinn Allen and Kyp Bellis; the Nina L. Devenny Distinguished Theatre Artist Award was presented to Molly Jones; the Dolores M. & John W. Kitterman Theatre Scholarship was presented to Claire Groos;.
The Biggins Scholarships went to Grace Clark, Reagan Medlock and Trae Selemaea; The Harold and Sherralyn Craven Scholarship in Theatre was presented to incoming freshman student Audrey Shepard; The William Martin Scully IV Creativity Scholarship was presented to Quinn Allen; The Foundation Scholarship went to Madison Keep; and the Peer Mentor Scholarship was presented to Rosalyn Schuster; The Richard Herman Black Box Theatre Scholarship was awarded to Danny Gage and the David R. Peerbolte Technical Theatre Scholarship went to Molly Blackburn. Theatre & Dance Ambassador Scholarships were presented to the following current and incoming students: Allison Cotant, Anna Fletcher, Matthew Kimbel, Chloe Klemme, Payton Lawrence, Ayla McCann, John Plasencio, Leslie Saunders III, Ellie Siegfried, Gabriel Sokolowski, Hannah Vath and Charlie Vitale.
The Distinguished Patron of the Year award went to Jeanne McDowell who was a strong supporter of UCM Theatre & Dance, with a scholarship established in her, and her late husband, Jim’s, family name. Before her passing in December, Jeanne gave a large financial contribution to the UCM Musical Theatre program to enhance the musical productions for many years to come. Her daughters, Kathy and Lynn, accepted the award posthumously on her behalf.
UCM Theatre & Dance is excited to announce our upcoming 2024-2025 production season. Beginning with Central Missouri Repertory’s summer tour, May 28-June 2 —Guinevere and Lancelot; September 12-14—Studio Theatre One Acts; October 3-6—She Kills Monsters; October 31-Nov 3—New Play Festival; November 20-23—Amahl & The Night Visitors (in collaboration with the Division of Music); February 6-8—Studio Theatre One Acts; February 27-March 2nd—Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat; April 11-13 and 17-19—Cabaret (in collaboration with the Division of Music). Season tickets will be available beginning in August.
