Three of the University’s Theatre Arts Design and Technology Students were honored February 3 at Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
They were among 23 Westfield State students who participated in the annual Festival’s competitions for acting, musical theatre, directing, and design technology, among others. Students participated in a variety of available workshops offered by faculty and professionals throughout the nation, as well as a job fair/open audition/interviews for some of New England’s most prestigious professional summer theaters.
Madeleine Hebért ’20 received two awards. For her scenic design of “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” she earned and honorable mention Award for Excellence in Scenic Design and for her sound design of “American Idiot,” she received the Award for Excellence in Sound Design.
With the Sound Design Award, Hebért was one of eight student sound designers from across the country to receive an all expenses paid trip to the National Festival, to be held at the Kennedy Center April 15-20. There, she will present her work to top level industry professionals and will participated in masters classes taught by Tony Award-winning designers Beverly Emmons and Rob Kaplowitz. She will also be in consideration for scholarships, internships, and apprenticeships with some of the nation’s most prestigious professional theaters and training programs.
Casey Dubrowksi ’19 was awarded the VectorWorks Award for her lighting design of “American Idiot.” This award comes a full professional license of Nemetschek, N.A.’s software Vectorworks Spotlight (valued at approximately $3,000).
Anaila Aleman ’18 received the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas 1 Week Internship for her scenic design of “American Idiot.” This award will offer Aleman the opportunity to choose from eight different professional weeklong training programs at the prestigious Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. She will receive a full tuition scholarship, including travel and meals (valued at approximately $3,000).
The University’s student participants in the Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival were Conor Bunker, Casey Dubrowski, Ali Foley, Glenna Forgue, Alexi Harrelson, Madeleine Hebért, Simone LaPlant, Remani Lizana, Avory Luna, Shamus Maunsell, Joel Mercier, Sean O’Brien, Jake O’Kane, Abbey Pelland, Amethyst Robinson, Andre Ruiz, Deirdre Sandstrum, Elysha Sathyaraj, Sam Shotz, Aleksandr Tsikhotskiy, Javier Vargas, Krystal Vasquez, and Jason Zeppa.