Rebels acting their best

February 8, 2010 by Bryant Nguyen 

UNLV actors earn berth in prestigious acting competition

The Kennedy Center American College Festival has chosen 11 UNLV theatre students to compete for awards and scholarships in the regional competition from Feb. 9-13 at Dixie State College in Utah.

“It’s very prestigious to compete, whether you win or not,” said Rayme Cornell, UNLV theatre professor. “You’ve been recognized for your outstanding work. The best of the best have been invited to either present their plays or their school’s plays.”

This collection of students is the largest frorm UNLV in recent memory. Only four students were invited to compete last year.

“It’s an honor,” said UNLV student and nominee Jakob Sauter. “We did the play last year and there is always the chance of going through, but it’s no guarantee, so it’s an honor to be selected.”

The festival has divided colleges across the nation into eight regions. UNLV’s region includes colleges from Arizona, Central and Southern California, Hawaii, Utah and Nevada.

The selection of the nominees, made by the board members of the festival, is a confidential process. The board members attended the school’s play and nominate any performers they deemed worthy to compete in the regional.

“They are total strangers,” Cornell said. “I couldn’t tell you who they were. They come and see the new plays and see what the students are doing. Essentially, they are nominated if they think their work is excellent. So that’s why we are pretty excited.”

Some UNLV students will vye for the opportunity to win Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships. The scholarship is named in honor of the late artist best known for her role as Granny Clampett in “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

“We have 11 undergraduates participating,” Cornell said. “Some are doing scenes, but six of them were chosen to compete in the Irene Ryan.”

Cornell knows how competitive the festival is having been to past festivals across the nation to judge and conduct workshops.

“In one region there are preliminary round, semi-final round and a final round,” Cornell said. “I sat through 112 scenes one day. That’s how big these competitions are.”

Although there are numerous awards and scholarships to be won at the festival, only one performer from each region will be invited to the national finals at the Kennedy Center.

The festival is also a chance for the competing students to be recognized by casting scouts and graduate schools.

“Hopefully [win] a scholarship, but just having the experience,” Sauter said. “It’s always a chance to audition, work on what I do, and a chance to go out there and be seen by possibly grad schools.”

For Sauter and the rest of competing UNLV students, the week leading up to the competition has been hectic filling out necessary paperwork and reviewing the itinerary. They haven’t had the chance to practice as much as they would like but are confident in their performance.

“We haven’t been able to hash out how we are doing stuff so a lot of nitty-gritty scene work hasn’t been touched on, but we know what we are doing,” Sauter said.

Aside from the competition, the festival will provide activities and acting workshops for the students to learn from professionals throughout their stay.

“I went freshman year as a partner and one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t do the workshops,” Sauter said. “Performing is fun, but I would like to see what’s out there and what people are doing.”

The odds are favorable, with 11 students being invited from UNLV, so the chances of winning are greater than ever before.

“I hope they get far,” Cornell said. “We have a really strong contention and all the students that are going are stage and screen acting students. I’m hoping most get to the semi-finals, which will be great, and to the finals.”