ROCK SPRINGS – Mary Poppins may have recently stopped in Rock Springs but left behind a few gifts for the Western Wyoming Community College Theater Department.
In October of 2015, the Western Wyoming Performing Arts Department presented Mary Poppins to southwest Wyoming. Fans were treated to fun and even witnessed a few flying cast members.
At the recent board meeting, Director Chris Will gave an update on the department. Western Wyoming is part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
KCACTF is a year-round program in eight geographic regions in the United States. Regional activities are coordinated through eight KCACTF regional chairs and eight KCACTF playwriting awards chairs. With funding and administrative support from the Kennedy Center, the regional chair coordinates with the Co-Managers of KCACTF all aspects of the adjudication of productions on the local and regional level and supervises regional-level KCACTF award competitions.
The playwriting chair works with schools that have entered new and student-written plays by providing expertise in the development of new scripts–assessment specifically designed for a developing play–and by providing information on the numerous playwriting awards offered.
In January and February of each year, regional festivals showcase the finest of each region’s entered productions and offer a variety of activities, including workshops, symposia, and regional-level award programs.
Since its inception, KCACTF has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued, improve their dramatic skills and receive national recognition for excellence. More than 16 million theatergoers have attended approximately 10,000 festival productions nationwide.
Will announced to the board, Mary Poppins received two awards from KCACTF. Joy Peterson won a choreography award for her work on the play and Will was honored with a director’s award.
WWCC has had several students in the past receive KCACTF awards for their hard work and talents.
Board member Lynne Chadey said she “really enjoyed” the performance of Mary Poppins and said the honors were well-deserved. Both Chadey and Chairman George Eckman said accolades like this are great for the school and should be recognized.
Will and the department are currently preparing for this weekend’s opening performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum.”
