Lansing Community College
Dart Auditorium
LCC Theatre Production Wins Spot at Kennedy Center Festival
Lansing Community College Theatre's production of Never Swim Alone directed by Deb Keller was selected earlier this month for presentation January 6-7, 2016 in Milwaukee at the Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). Never Swim Alone is the first LCC production to receive a highly competitive festival invitation as a Participating Production, one of five in a field of 21 from universities and colleges in the four-state Region III (Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana).
An open dress rehearsal in preparation for the tour will be FREE TO THE PUBLIC at 4 p.m. Sunday, January 3 in Dart Auditorium.
LCC will also have six students competing in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition: Anna Szabo (nominated for A Streetcar Named Desire); Connor Kelly, Heath Sartorius and Monica Tanner (Never Swim Alone); Dustin Dikes and Boris Nikolovski (The Colleen Bawn).
Never Swim Alone will be in the company of shows from Ball State University, Oakland University, Marquette University, and Carthage College. These are then considered for presentation at the national festival in Washington, D.C. in April. Over the years, LCC has entered just a handful of productions as Participating Shows which must be prepared to travel: most are Associate entries and so receive a response from a visiting theatre professor and the opportunity for students to enter into the Irene Ryan Acting Competition.
"Beyond the fact that our LCC production won this spot and will be seen by a regional audience, I am so excited by this invitation because I believe it is a very meaningful recognition of the quality and effectiveness of the training and education LCC students receive through the LCC Theatre Studio Program," said LCC Performing Arts Producer Melissa Kaplan.
Never Swim Alone is Daniel MacIvor's satire about two men who engage in a high-stakes battle of one-upmanship and the woman who referees their match. Director Deb Keller brings powerful staging to this modern piece of theatre, including the use of aerial silks. Originally staged October 2015 in LCC's 90-seat Black Box Theatre for packed crowds, the production team is adapting it for a 525-seat theatre at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with only a few weeks to prepare. The festival process includes a strictly monitored and adjudicated four-hour load-in, two performances, and a response from festival adjudicators.
Founded in 1966, the KCACTF is a network of more than 700 academic institutions located in eight regions with 20,000 participating students, dedicated to improving the quality of college theatre in the United States. The annual regional festivals offer workshops, performances, and competitions. LCC has been committed to providing KCACTF opportunities to its students for years by encouraging attendance at festivals and participation, when nominated, in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition. Earlier KCACTF recognition for LCC included an invited scene from Six Degrees of Separation (2006), and recognition for direction for Andy Callis, A View From the Bridge (2011).