City College represents at KCACTF

Top row (L-R): Daylon de Alva, Andy Ouch, Luis Sherlinee, Will James, Genia Santini, Katie Rodda; Middle row (L-R): Teri K. Monte, Kai Ferrer, Yvana Alvarez, Kevyn Fernandez; Bottom: Louis Estrada

Each February, Region 8 of the Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival holds its annual 5-day festival/conference which provides an opportunity for students and faculty to see one another's work and to share ideas. In addition to performances, there are a wide range of activities that include workshops and seminars on such topics as playwriting, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, theatre for children, design, stage management, and so on. Region 8 is comprised of Arizona, Central and Southern California, Hawaii, Southern Nevada, Utah, and Guam.  

In 2019, City College sent five students to KCACTF in Los Angeles. In 2020, we sent 15, plus faculty members Katie Rodda and Duane Gardella to CSU Fullerton.

One of the components of the festival is the Irene Ryan Scholarship Competition. In 2019, all four City College shows were entered into KCACTF, and an outside respondent came to see the shows and give feedback. Each respondent selected two outstanding performers to audition for the Irene Ryan Scholarship. The selected students from City College were Louis Estrada, Will James, Luis Sherlinee, Genia Santini, Denise Martinez, Teri Monte, Kai Ferrer, and Daylon de Alva. Each actor had to prepare two scenes and a monologue, and the competition was stiff! There were over 250 students competing at the festival. While no City College students advanced to semi-finals, the work they did was outstanding.

While they were at the festival, the students attended workshops ranging from musical theatre to voice, to improv, to stage management. There were eight fully-staged productions, including a flamenco-style Macbeth, the dark Latinx play Oedipus el Rey, a heartbreaking devised theatre piece called Criminal, and the hilarious musical Xanadu.

I think it's safe to say that all of the students who attended had a great experience at the festival and learned a lot about themselves and about other college and university theatre programs.

City College is proud to be a participant in KCACTF, and we look forward to attending next year's festival in Mesa, Arizona! Congratulations, everyone--you made City College look good!

Top Row (L-R): Will James, Kevyn Fernandez, Noelle Manimtim, Alyssa Hayden, Daylon de Alva, Roxy Camargo, Luis Sherlinee, Teri Monte; Bottom row (L-R): Louis Estrada, Yvana Alvarez, Kai Ferrer, Denise Martinez, Genia Santini, Andy Ouch, Katie Rodda

(L-R): Lizzie Wold, Teri Monte, Daylon de Alva, Yvana Alvarez, Luis Sherlinee