UCM Theatre & Dance Faculty, Students Receive Awards & Recognition at Region V American College Theatre Festival

From left, Theatre Performance senior John Plasencio, Musical Theatre senior Hannah Vath
and Kasey Lynch, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of Theatre.

 

Students and faculty from the University of Central Missouri (UCM) Division of Theatre and Dance attended the Region V American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) Jan. 18-24 in Rochester, Minnesota. Thirty-five students and four faculty members attended and were recognized for excellence in multiple areas of theatre and dance. 

One of the festival’s biggest awards went to Hannah Vath, a senior Musical Theatre major, for winning the Region V Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition out of 300 students in the seven-state region. This prestigious award recognizes, honors and provides financial assistance to outstanding student performers, awarding eight $500 regional scholarships and one national scholarship annually. Vath will participate in the national festival in April.

To win this award, Vath prepared a four-minute performance package including a monologue and a scene. Vath's scene partner, Theatre Performance senior John Plasencio, also won Irene Ryan Outstanding Scene Partner in the final round. Kasey Lynch, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of Theatre, served as acting coach for Vath and Plasencio, helping them select material and mentoring them between rounds of competition. 

In addition to his acting award, Plasencio's 10-minute play, “Bedtime for Borz,” was selected as a regional finalist. Out of 96 play submissions, the top six plays were chosen for a staged reading and performed during the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Festival.

Nathalia Cordero, a sophomore Theatre Performance major, won the ASPIRE Arts Leadership Fellowship for Region V. While at the festival, she created and pitched her own model for producing theatrical events to a selection panel of theatre professionals. This exercise encourages students to think holistically and critically about leadership styles, programming and models, placing the art in the context of community and demonstrating students’ ability to think outside the box. 

Kaia Trujillo, a junior Digital Media Production major, received an honorable mention for her direction of “Lungs” by Duncan Macmillan for the Society of Directors and Choreographers (SDC) Fellowship Competition. Trujillo cast this scene with two UCM actors, Vath and Caleb Klaus, and presented it at the festival. To advance to the top six in the final round, Trujillo participated in an interview with the SDC respondents, during which their director’s book, statement and approach were discussed. 

Rosalyn Schuster, a recent Musical Theatre graduate, and Chris Schilligo, a junior Music Technology major, advanced to the semi-final round of the Musical Theatre Singing Intensive to be among the top 52 students out of 300 contestants. Schilligo advanced to the top 20, earning him a spot in the Musical Theatre Intensive Showcase, where he performed “Stay Gold” from “The Outsiders.” Allie Whitbey, a sophomore Theatre Performance major, was selected as lead dancer and one of the top 19 dancers for the Musical Theatre Dance Intensive. Students worked with a Broadway choreographer to learn and perform a dance piece for the showcase. 

Madison Keep, a junior Math Education major; Raegan Weber, a senior Theatre Performance major; and Kelley Akers, a freshman Speech and Theatre Education major, were each cast in three different 10-minute plays at the festival. Keep was also selected as an alternate for 10-minute play direction. 

Jacob Collins, a Theatre Performance junior, and Lola Simmons, a Theatre Performance freshman, served on the ACTF Region V Student Advisory Board. 

Theatre Performance major Ellie Siegfried and Theatre Design/Technology majors Ari Kendrick, Gabe Sokolowski, Emma Stevens and Molly Blackburn each presented their stage management, costume design and sound design work from both unrealized and various UCM Theatre and Dance productions for adjudication at the Design Expo. Kendrick received a Mental Health and Wellness Advocacy Award for her lighting design research of “Cabaret.”

Five costumes from UCM’s recent production of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” designed by Assistant Professor of Theatre (Costume Design) Cassie Kay Hoppas, were selected to be presented in the Costume Parade during the festival’s closing ceremony. Each piece took weeks of meticulous design, patterning and construction by Hoppas and the students in her costume design and production classes. All five looks also featured hair and makeup design by a student from her stage makeup course. 

Throughout the week, students attended a variety of invited productions, participated in numerous workshops and intensives in all areas of theatre, and auditioned and interviewed for professional theatre companies. Many UCM students received callbacks for summer employment and internships, and gained opportunities to apply their education in professional practice. UCM’s own Shenanigans Improv and Sketch Comedy Team performed during the Improv Showcase. 

Vath, Collins, Mayeli Rodriguez Romero and senior English major Avory Nail participated in the Collaborative Theatre Challenge in various capacities. Collins, Cordero and Frankie Nelson participated in the Devised Theatre Intensive with a comedic retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

UCM productions received Meritorious Achievement Awards during the opening ceremony. For UCM’s spring 2025 production of “Dr. Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat,” Jenise Cook, assistant professor of Theatre, and Cami Wieberg, assistant director, received recognition for Creating a Space for Fantastic Collaboration; Sokolowski was recognized for his stage management. The entire cast received an award for Ensemble Performance, with sophomore Musical Theatre major Elizabeth Molina and sophomore Theatre Design/Technology major Emma Stevens recognized for their work as a Dynamic Duo - Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

“Cabaret,” produced at UCM in spring 2025, received an award in every creative and design position: Associate Professor of Theatre Aaron Scully and Trujillo for Direction; Iona Dewalt for Musical Direction; Ashley Miller-Scully and Weber for Choreography; Stephanie Heathcock and Dohyun Grace Kim for Stage Management; Cook for Intimacy Choreography; Spencer Musser and Sojeong Lee for Scenic Design; Alyna Mathews for Properties Design; Kendrick and Wesley Freeman for Lighting Design; Blackburn and Lucy Nutt for Costume Design; Hoppas for Hair and Makeup Design; Sokolowski and Brody Lafrentz for Sound Design; Claire Groos for Double Duty as an Actor and Band Member; Anna Fletcher for Super Swing; the entire cast for Ensemble Performance, and lastly, for the production’s Lobby Display, Interactive Elements and Immersive Experience. 

The fall 2025 musical production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” received Meritorious Achievement Awards for Ensemble Acting, Comedy, and Vocal Performance for cast members Audrey Shepard, Trae Selemaea, Jadan Zelch, Fletcher, Nelson, Collins and Schilligo. Recognition for Costume, Hair and Makeup Design was awarded to Nail, while sophomore Theatre Design/Technology student Lafrentz was recognized for Sound Design. An award for Choreography was presented to Vath, and Direction and Creation of a Safe Space was awarded to Lynch. 

Lastly, Schuster and freshman Theatre Design/Technology student Shannon Williamson were awarded meritorious recognitions for Backstage Management for “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Nutt was recognized for her Wig Design.

UCM Theatre and Dance faculty led workshops and panels at the festival. Hoppas led the Costume Runway Intensive and taught two workshops, Intro to Flat Patterning the Bodice and Intro to Flat Patterning the Skirt. Musser, assistant professor of Theatre (Scene Design and Technical Direction), was a load-in/out respondent and led workshops on Ink and Watercolor for Design and 3D Modeling and Printing. Lynch taught two workshops, “Understudy, Swing, Standby, Oh My! The Art of Stepping In” and “Movement for the Actor: A Crash (Obstacle) Course in Viewpoints,” and served as a respondent for the Irene Ryan preliminary rounds. Miller-Scully, chair of the Division of Theatre and Dance, assisted with dance callbacks for Crane River Theatre and led a faculty-only panel on ACTF Funding Resources. UCM faculty also participated in the College Fair to meet and recruit transfer students to the program. 

UCM Theatre and Dance students and faculty expressed their appreciation for Provost Tim Crowley, the Academic Competitive Teams Council, the Office of Graduate Studies Scholarly Activity Fund, and several individual donors who provided funds to help offset the cost of this invaluable learning experience.