The University of Idaho theater department has been making incredible work, even while facing challenges through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theater students Hannah Verdi, Brindle Brundage and Andrew Yoder were honored with top awards in the Region 7 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). The KCACTF Theatre Festival gives college theatre students a chance to show off their talent to judges who previously worked at Broadway to win awards for their regions, and national awards as well. Idaho is in Region 7, along with Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Northern Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska.
Normally, it would be held in a city near its region, and a chance for winners to travel to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, but it was online this year due to COVID-19. Each student won an award for a different section of theater that they excel at.
Verdi won the Regional Musical Theatre Scholarship for musical theatre. The $600 scholarship to the Open Jar, a New York City Broadway actor training program. This is Verdi’s first time winning the award, for her performance singing “I’m Not Pregnant, I’m Fat” from the musical “R.R.R.E.D — A Secret Musical” and “Her or Me” from Miss Saigon.” Verdi said for this year, she was going to do something different for the festival, compared to what she did for the last three years.
In past years, she would choose musical theater songs that were meant to impress the judges. Her freshman year she chose songs “I Chose Breathe” from The Heights and “I Want the Good Times Back” from The Little Mermaid Broadway Musical. Her sophomore year, she chose “All Falls Down” from Chaplin and “Five and a Half Minutes” from The Woman Upstairs.
“The entire festival was on Zoom this year, we couldn’t go to it because of COVID,” Verdi said. “So, I was like, ‘you know what, screw it I’m (going to) pick songs that I want to do instead of trying to structure it in a way that I could possibly win the scholarship.”
Brundage, who won last year for her set design of “Little Women,” won three awards for which included her work on UI plays such as “The Revolutionist” and “The Moors.”
This year, she was able to show off her scenic design in the play “The Moors” which premiered in Spring of 2020, before the play closed due to COVID-19. The play “The Revolutionist” had to be done over Zoom. While actors can tell the story, it is the design that sets the mood for the story and can wow the audience.
“I made renderings and models, going through that design process as if the pandemic wasn’t a situation,” Brindle said. “Then take my favorite and most important elements from that design into zoom.”
Having to compromise for Zoom created challenges, but she was still able to produce fantastic scenes for the plays.
“Actors lead the story with their actions, but it helps visually that there’s like a visual metaphor of what the show means,” Brindle said.
In addition to the awards, she also one a one-week internship at Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. This workshop helps scenic designers better their work and offers them great advice for scenic design, along with hands-on experience that they can use.
Yoder won his third consecutive award for sound design for his work on the production of “The Moors.”
Originally, he wanted to be an actor but got into sound design when he was introduced to it by a graduate student. Yoder said that sound design tends to not be a popular choice with many theater people, and very few go into it. However, he enjoyed it so much that he worked with the students until the mantle was handed down to him.
“This award has been kind of surreal,” Yoder said. “I don’t even know how to react anymore.”
Yoder said that for his work with “The Moors,” he made the sound design feel like a mixture of The Addams Family and Jane Eyre. He made the sound fade in and out during the play, where the audience wouldn’t know that there is no sound until it all sucked away during intense scenes.
His proudest moment was during the climax of the play where a character thinks they are being applauded for their work, but then it’s revealed that it’s the sound of rain, surprising the audience and making them realize that this character is insane.
All three were glad to win awards and appreciated feedback. All said that they are given feedback by people who work on Broadway, including actors, set designers and sound mixers who judge their work and interact with them.
Verdi said that she got to interact with an actress who was in the original cast of the Broadway musical “Hairspray.” The actress told her that she could see Verdi on Broadway.
“For somebody that’s in your field to tell you that you’re perfect for your field, is so validating and honorable,” Verdi said.
Brindle got to meet Jay Duckworth, a scenic designer who worked on “Hamilton.” He presented her award to her, and Brindle was tongue-tied but was able to talk with him about scenic design and her own work.
“When you work so hard, you don’t always get acknowledged,” Brindle said. “But when you do, it’s the best thing in the world.”
For Yoder, he was able to meet with many famous people such as Jeff Sherwood, who got him a fellowship with Eugene O’Neill during the summer of 2020. He said it was the most educational experience he ever had.
“Just getting to work directly with other professionals, those are the kind of highlights for the people I’ve got to meet throughout this process,” Yoder said.
Ryan Hill can be reached at arg-life@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @RyanHil32959860