Three Northern Michigan University Theatre & Dance students earned awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's (KCACTF) Region 3 conference in Madison. Mark Simons from Cadillac became the second NMU student ever to advance to nationals at the Kennedy Center with a win in the Musical Theater Intensive. Maya Moreau of Dearborn, who made history last year as the first from NMU to advance to nationals, won the Classical Acting Award. Liam Fisher of Grand Rapids received a scholarship to attend the Open Jar Institute, New York City's premiere Broadway actor training program, this summer.
Simons sang two songs for his audition: Belief by Alexander Sage Oyen; and If from the musical Two on the Aisle. His first role in a campus production was Victor Frankenstein in the NMU adaptation of Frankenstein last fall. The director of that show, Kaitlyn Frotton, was one of two faculty members who accompanied a delegation of 11 NMU students to the regional festival in Madison.
“There were hundreds of students who entered the first round,” Frotton said. “Mark and five other Northern students made it to the second semifinal round, which was amazing, and then he won the whole thing. He'll compete with the winners from all of the regionals at the Kennedy Center in April and maybe win some scholarship money.”
Moreau won the coveted Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship last year to advance to nationals. For her audition in the same competition category this year, she performed a monologue from Salome by Oscar Wilde, and a scene from Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute along with NMU student and scene partner Copeland Driver. She advanced to the finals for Salome, a title role she played in an NMU production, and received the Classical Acting Award.
Like Simons, Fisher also competed in the Musical Theatre Intensive (MTI). He was awarded one of four scholarships to attend this summer's Open Jar Institute. Fisher is a stage veteran at Northern. His credits include Spamalot, Grease, Anything Goes, and The Rocky Horror Show.
NMU Assistant Professor Kristen Beth Ludwig also accompanied the students to Madison and was responsible for coordinating the MTI. She scheduled initial auditions for 118 students in two sub-categories and found guest artists to work with students and serve as judges.
The MTI includes a dance component and a vocal component. Some students choose to participate in both; others do one or the other. Ludwig said the majority of Northern students who attended the conference participated in the preliminary round.
“We have really expanded the vocal department in NMU Theatre & Dance, so all of our students received excellent coaching prior to getting to the festival,” she added. “The nice thing about the audition process for all of these scholarship opportunities is that there's feedback at every stage. Students have the opportunity to receive comments and direction from people beyond the faculty they see day in and day out at Northern. That's really valuable, because that is what they're going to be experiencing out in the real world. It's nice for them to understand how they're coming across to other professionals in the industry and other faculty from around our region.”
“A couple of our students said they once wondered if they made the right decision picking Northern because it's relatively remote,” said Frotton. “After going to this competition, they felt really confident about the skills that they had learned. Other schools had busloads of kids that didn't make it to semifinal and final rounds, so we did really well by comparison. Nearly half of our students advanced, so they found that really validating the choice they made. All of the students in our program are so kind to each other and share in the success of their peers. If one made it to the next round, everyone was on their feet, like, cheering them on. It's nice to see.”
The festival also included workshops and networking opportunities. Frotton led a session on creating a play from scratch using inspiration from objects, and a Shakespeare acting workshop.
NMU graduate Gianna Bratke also made her mark. She was nominated for the festival's costume parade for her costume design of Northern's production of Puffs last year.