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Ten students from the theater department of Allen Community College had a trip last week to Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. After performing in “33 Variations,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” six students from Allen Community College were nominated to audition for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. The nominees and their partners were Kailey Boyd and Gage Dickerson, Alexis Dean and Michael De Los Santos, Jeri Troyer and Elvira Avdeyeva, Liesl Wilhoft and Jordan Fountain, and Matthew Wynn and Amanda McDermott.
The auditions for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship were at the University of Nebraska, and a three-round audition process culminated in two people receiving scholarships and being chosen to represent Region V at the national festival in Washington, D.C. There were 360 teams from Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. In the first round on Jan. 20, participants presented a three-minute scene. One pair, Kailey Boyd and Gage Dickerson, made it to the semi-finals with the scene called “Check Please” by Jonathan Rand. For both Boyd and Dickerson, going to the second round was a very unexpected surprise.
“I did not expect to make it at all! When Mr. Piazza called off my name I was super-duper surprised. I just knew it would take a lot of work to perfect our second scene (“Will You Please Shut Up”) seeing as neither of us had really memorized it,” Boyd said.
It also was the first time anybody from the history of Allen Community College ever made it to the second round.
“I honestly had no idea what would happen. I guess hearing that no one from Allen has ever made it past the first round really set a fire inside to try to be a first. As soon as we were told we made it I was extremely excited and all I could think about was getting started on my next piece,” Dickerson said.
After the results of the first round were announced, both Boyd and Dickerson had a chance to get feedback about their scene “Check Please” from the judge of the first round.
“The judge told us that it was rare for them to say that we made it feel real to them and that we had great choice of movements and, also, that we showed great actors chemistry on stage,” said Dickerson.
Boyd added, “We were pretty impressed by the feedback our judge gave us. She said that she rarely gives the comment she gave to us to anyone, which was that we were really believable, reacted very well, and worked well together. Other than that she gave us tips and little issues we could improve on.”
In the second round the semi-finalists presented a scene called “Will You Please Shut Up” by Dan O’Brien.
“I loved our scenes! I felt they were pretty strong and entertaining. Gage was an awesome partner. He always brought his best and, seeing as this is only his second year acting, he is obviously pretty darn good,” Boyd said.
Dickerson put a lot into the scenes and tried to imagine him and Boyd as if they were in a real situation.
“I really enjoyed doing the scenes. They were fun to do and working with Kailey was a fun experience also. We both put enough energy into our pieces that it felt like a real life situation,” he said.
The partners did not make it to the final round, but they agreed it was a fun and rewarding experience to be part of the Irene Ryan Conference.
“I really enjoyed the people that I was surrounded with. Everybody seemed so supportive even though they had no idea who you were. It was a great atmosphere to perform in!, said Dickerson.
Boyd will transfer to a four-year university next fall. She is not sure whether she will perform on stage, but if she does, “I’ll definitely try my best to get nominated again! It was a great experience,” she said.
For Dickerson, participating in the Irene Conference again would be a great thing to do. He is excited to admit that, “The conference was a blast! I’m really hoping that next year I’ll get to see all my friends that attended it this year and the group of friends that will be going next year. So good luck, everybody, and break a leg!”