In February, SFCC was represented at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival region 7 festival by 9 drama students including Jaycelane Fortin, Sarah Plumb, Matthew Gerard, Nikki Green, and Megan Barlow-Jones, where scholarships were won, and the spring musical, “Bonnie & Clyde,” was recognized by regional leadership. Only five schools were chosen to perform sections of their productions, and SFCC was among them to perform a condensed version of “Bonnie & Clyde, ‘’ which was also performed in February’s cabaret fundraiser at SFCC’s Spartan Theater.
According to their website, “The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country.”
Ashley DeMoville, the faculty advisor for Bigfoot Drama tells all about the various recognitions for the drama students.
“Nikki Green was selected to represent all colleges and universities in Washington state on the KCACTF Region 7 Student Advisory Board. In addition, five of our students participated in the Next Step Auditions, which is an opportunity to audition for professional theatres and transfer universities – all five were called back by recruiters at universities including Western Washington University, Central Washington University, University of Wyoming, Eastern Washington University, and Western Colorado University. Finally, one student, Matthew Gerard was a semi-finalist (top 32 of over 300) and two students, Jaycelane Fortin and Sarah Plumb, were finalists (top 16 out of 300) in the region’s Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition.”
Jaycelane Fortin describes being a finalist for the Irene Acting Scholarship as “actually a little emotional.”
Although they were not awarded the scholarship they still found themselves calling family and friends with this exciting news. The students were able to meet students from other colleges who share similar interests.
“There were so many great performances, and we got to share our work with so many people,” Fortin said. “It’s very humbling.
Students also got the opportunity to sit down and talk with advisors from the colleges that they were interested in going to.
The students were joined at the festival by Chris Hanson, who was the emcee for SFCC’s February Cabaret. Molly Robbins also joined as the partner for both Fortin and Jared Martin, a EWU student. She won the Best partner Award. Before transferring to EWU as a theater major, Robbins was active in the theater scene at SFCC.
Many people were involved in the KCACTF and more were proud of those representing SFCC. The festival may have ended but these actors continue on their journey to shine on stage.
Photo courtesy, Ashely DeMoville