Nathan Short recognized at theater festival

2016 Feb 1

ESU Theatre was well represented at the regional festival of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) last week in Bloomington, Minnesota. Hosted by Normandale Community College, Emporia State was represented by 25 students and several members of the faculty.

Nathan Short of Paola, Kansas, made it to the semifinals of the Irene Ryan Scholarship for his role in "South Pacific" and was selected to perform in the Music Theatre Intensive.

The March 2015 production of "The Treehouse Effect" by ESU alums Mark Warner and Brandon Jensen was the featured production at the festival, performing for an audience of almost 800 at the Ames Center for the Performing Arts in Burnsville on Jan. 21. Before heading up north, a fundraising performance was presented at the Bruder Theatre. The performance had 227 audience supporters and raised $3,827 for the trip to Minnesota! A generous contribution from Thomas Transfer and Storage helped to make the trip possible.

In awards presented at the end of the week, the company of "The Treehouse Effect" received a plaque. Several other award were presented to ESU Theatre at the festival. Chris Lohkamp, theatre technical director received a Certificate of Merit for his scenic design for "The Treehouse Effect." Faculty costumer Susan Mai was awarded a commendation for her costume designs for "As You Like It."