Image: This year’s Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival featured an abundance of UGA Theatre & Film Studies undergraduate, graduate, and faculty nominees. At the close of the festival, UGA came away with a myriad of awards, semi-finalists, and two undergraduate students who will be headed to the national festival in April to represent the university in Washington, D.C. Wyn Alyse Thomas’s First Semester: A Musical – the 2023 recipient of the department’s New Georgia Group Award – was awarded the David Shelton Award for Excellence in Full-Length Playwrighting as well as the National Partners of American Theatre Playwrighting Award for Region IV. Thomas’s 10-minute play Don’t Say Gay also earned the Gary Garrison 10-minute Playwrighting Award. Garrett McCord was awarded the Musical Theatre Initiative First Place Performance for his performance of “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton. Both Thomas and McCord will be headed to Washington, D.C. in April 2025 for the KCACTF Nationals, with their travel and housing funded by the Kennedy Center. Graduate student Jacob Yurkovich was awarded the Region IV Student Choice Award for his lighting design for the UGA Theatre production of Dolly Parton and Patricia Resnick’s 9 to 5. Undergraduates Reagan Simmons, Bianca Cardona, Jenna Gubran, and Kaylor Jones were semi-finalists for the Musical Theatre Initiative. Bianca Cardona and Garrett McCord were also semi-finalists for the Irene Ryan Acting competition. Head of Performance Georgia Contini and stage management faculty Chelsea Taylor (who served as stage management coordinator chair for Region IV) were in attendance at this year's festival. Faculty member T. Anthony Marotta was also present, serving a respondent for the Irene Ryan Acting candidates! Congratulations to all who competed, performed, and amplified UGA’s presence at this year’s Region IV KCACTF and, of course, to those representing UGA on the national stage later this semester. Read More: KCACTF Region IV Website
