The Department of Theatre and Dance at Southern Miss took its production of Scapin, a hilarious adaptation of the Moliere play by Bill Irwin and Mark O’Donnell, to regionals. The show was selected in November at the Mississippi KCACTF festival in Columbus to advance to the regional level.

In Jacksonville, six productions, chosen from 23 nominated productions from 10 Southeast states, were presented. The Southern Miss performance received an uproarious response from the audience, including a standing ovation at the curtain call.

“I’m so proud of the incredible job by everyone who worked on this production,” said show director Scot Mann, assistant professor of theatre and dance at Southern Miss. “The performance in Jacksonville was a special event filled with great enthusiasm and the highest level of professional standards.

“We achieved our goal: to share a great evening of theater and to represent our program and our university in the best way possible.”

Although the department is waiting on word about possibly advancing to a Kennedy Center performance, Southern Miss actors and faculty earned acting, coaching, and designing kudos in Jacksonville.

Kathy Newman of Rome, Ga., a third-year M.F.A. candidate in performance, won the National Partners— American Theatre (NAPAT) Classical Acting award, the only award of the competition that came with a cash prize.

Her coaches – Mann, acting professor Monica Hayes and assistant professor of voice and acting Robin Aronson — also were honored with the Classical Acting Coaching award. This was the only award for actor coaching given at the festival.

Newman was partnered through three rounds of presentations in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition with sophomore Hallie Sootin of Ocean Springs. Senior Joe Styron of Covington, La., also made it through the three levels of competition, winning a spot in the highly coveted Finals Showcase with partner and third-year M.F.A. candidate Chad Martin of Johnson City, Tenn.

Actors Brad Oxnam of Greenwood and Lee Crouse of Magnolia, Ark., both third-year M.F.A. candidates, competed through the semifinal round of 30 student actors.

Only 16 actors from the region reached the finalist level from over 200 students nominated. Southern Miss was the only program in Mississippi sent by the national judges to the Finals Showcase.

From a field of more than 150 student designs submitted, M.F.A. design student Ben Wheeler of Augusta, Ga., won Honorable Mention in the rigorous Barbizon Design competition for his lighting design for Big Love, which played in the Southern Miss 2004-05 season.

For a fourth year, Southern Miss associate professor Stephen Judd was one of the leaders of the design work at the regional gathering, supervising Region IV’s Design Storm event.

The KCACTF National Selection Team will choose a small group of productions from the regional competitions throughout the United States to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April. An announcement of chosen productions is expected in early March.

For more information, visit the Web at www.usm.edu/arts or contact Angela Kilcrease at 601.266.4988.

Last updated: 02/22/06