DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Feb. 15, 2010) – When the fall production of “All in the Timing,” took center stage at the News-Journal Center, the student actors had no idea that two of them would reach the final round of competition to win a coveted Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.
As an institutional member of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Conference, the Daytona State College production of “All in the Timing” was adjudicated by a visiting team of college and university theater directors. Four students who participated in the production were nominated by the visiting judges to compete for the Irene Ryan Award at the Southeastern Region Conference held at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murphysboro, TN. The nominated acting students included Melissa Cassesse, Aaron Green and Page Poteet. Also nominated were Kristina Lomelin for theatrical design and Lindsey Akins for stage management. Three other students, Sloan Drafton, Gage Spry, and JP Stasiak accompanied the nominees and served as their dialogue partners.
Two hundred acting teams, a total of 400 students, participated in the first round of competition of which thirty-two moved on. Two of Daytona State’s three teams moved into the round of thirty-two - teams including Cassesse and Stasiak moved on to the prestigious final round of sixteen. The winner, still to be decided, of the southeastern region will compete at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. with three other teams representing the other quadrants of the country to determine the national winner.
Although disappointed not to make it to the final round, both Green and Drafton did receive call backs to audition for the Actor's Theatre of Louisville, one of the top regional theatre companies in the country.
“All in all, a great showing by our outstanding theater students and their professor, Geoffrey Kershner,” commented Dr. Douglas Peterson, Chair, School of Music Entertainment and Art.
The list of awards and student opportunities associated with the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions at the national festival continues to expand each year and the auditions are now undoubtedly one of the most exciting educational and artistic opportunities for student actors in the country.
Irene Ryan is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny" on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. Ryan died in 1973 and having no living relatives, left more than $1,000,000 to fund the Irene Ryan Foundation, which donates scholarships to young theater arts students involved with the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Glyn Johnston, Vice President, Marketing, Communications & Events, (386) 506-4499, johnstg@DaytonaState.edu
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