Two students honored at regional theatre competition
Jan. 19, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Two WMU theatre majors won awards at the American College Theater Festival regional competition in Milwaukee, Jan. 10-13.
Senior Joe Calarco of Grosse Pointe, Mich., took top honors in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition. He will advance to the ACTF national competition at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., at the end of April.
Patricia M. Nichols, a senior from West Bloomfield, Mich., with a 3.7 overall GPA, received honorable mention for her lighting design of "Into the Woods."
Calarco was nominated for his performance in last year's WMU production of the Noel Coward comedy "Hay Fever." He was among more than 300 actors in the preliminary competition. That number was reduced to 42 in the regional semi-finals, and to 16 actors in the finals. Region III, in which WMU competes, is composed of schools in Ohio, Indiana, Ilinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. The competition includes both undergraduate and graduate-degree candidates.
Some of Calarco's WMU credits include "Never The Sinner," "Into the Woods," "Assassins" and "Suburbia."
Patricia Nichols, who received honorable mention for lighting design at this year's competition, took the top regional design prize, the Barbizon Award, one year ago. Some of Nichol's other WMU credits include her lighting design for "Yellow Boat" and co-scenic designer for "Children of Eden."
Candidates for regional competition are nominated by a certified ACTF judge based on first-hand review of student work during the previous year.
Other WMU students who received nominations for this year's
acting competition were Nicholas Dalton, Brian Frank, Katie Foland,
Anjanette Hall, Joe Jung, Ross Kidder, Nicholas Konow and Joseph
Schiltz. Other design nominees were Jerome J. Hoppe Jr. and Erich
Keil.
Media contact: Shauna Thieman; 616 387-6222; shauna.thieman@wmich.edu