Holidays Help Prepare for KCACTF

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for many St. Ambrose University theatre students, but not because of the colder weather and romantic Hallmark movies. While many students are excited and looking forward to winter break, SAU theatre students know that they can't leave for the holidays until they have performed their first showings in preparation for the KCACTF Region 5 competition in January. With the competition quickly approaching, preparations for this year's festival are in full swing!

While SAU will have six students competing in the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Competition, only four students have officially earned their spots. These students include senior Sam Jones for his work in Richard III, junior Sarah Goodall for her performance in Richard III, and seniors Megan Clarke and Brian Liebforth for their performances in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The other two open spots will be given to two performers from this year's children show, Cinderella.

With first showings right around the corner, the Irene Ryan nominees and their partners have been getting to work picking scenes and memorizing lines. Senior Sam Jones will be competing with partner Keenan Odenkirk (who is a student at Augustana College in Rock Island), senior Brian Liebforth will be competing with transfer student Bryan Woods (who will be a sophomore next semester), senior Megan Clarke will be performing with senior Kelci Eaton, and last but not least, junior Sarah Goodall will have freshman student Tyler Hughes as her scene partner for the competition. Each nominee is working incredibly hard and will be sure to represent St. Ambrose in a positive manner at the contest.

While the Irene Ryan Acting Competition is important, there are numerous other ways to be involved at KCACTF. For example, a large number of students will be competing in the Music Theatre Intensive and Society for Directors and Choreographers (SDC) competition scenes as well. While the exact number of students competing in the Music Theatre Intensive are unknown, St. Ambrose students will undoubtedly impress with their song selections and performances. In addition to being an Irene Ryan nominee, senior Brian Leibforth will be directing an SDC scene and has cast senior Christian Colmenares, junior Sarah Goodall, sophomores Jessica Karolczak and TJ Green, and first year students Tyler Hughes and Luke Peterson for his scene. While Brian's directing skills are what will be judged for the competition, the SAU theatre family wishes him and all his actors luck in the competition.

In addition to performance competitions, there are many technical competitions as well. For example, our tech team consisting of seniors Jackson Green and Hannah Donovan, junior Kendall McKasson, and sophomore Kiara Thomas will be competing for the Golden Wrench against many other colleges and universities from the Midwest. In addition to tech team, senior Hannah Donovan will be competing in the Stage Management competition, and junior Kendall McKasson will be competing in the National Critics competition. Lastly, but certainly not least, freshman student Ellie Larson will be testing her fashion skills in the Project Runway contest at festival, and senior Kayla Lansing and Megan Clarke will be impressing judges/clients with their performance skills at professional auditions.

So, while the holidays may be fast approaching, that is not stopping our wonderful St. Ambrose students from preparing for the always incredible KCACTF Region 5 competition. If you'd like to see all the hard work the students have put in so far, you can come to First Showings on December 14 at 4 p.m. on the Galvin stage. There is no admission fee and the students would love the support!