Award-winning theatre
Wheaton students recognized at regional college theatre festival
Several Wheaton theatre students were recognized for their talent and accomplishments at the American College Theatre Festival’s (ACTF) Region 1 Conference.
Talented vocalist John O’Meara ’26 received the Voice & Speech Trainers Association Award and advanced to the final round of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition, along with classmate Colin Bourget ’26, while Reagan Jensen ’26 and Arianna Jimenez-Laurent ’29 reached the semi-finals. The scholarships are awarded annually to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education.
“Competing in the Irene Ryan competition was a blast,” said O’Meara. “Testing my acting skills in such a focused manner compelled me to break away from what I’d been taught as a performer and pursue complete truthfulness in my performance.” March 26-28, O’Meara will direct Wheaton’s student production of Amadeus.
In other festival competitions, Emma Zhou ’27 placed second in national costume design and the regional costume innovation, and was a runner-up as director and costume designer in the design storm competition.
Ben Zaborski ’26 placed second in national lighting design competition while Elias Cowie ’26 placed second in national scenic design. Rounding out the accolades, Jill Brown ’26 advanced to the second round of interviews in the national stage management competition while Brianna Freitas ’27 and Jacob Packard ’27 were cast in 10-minute plays during the festival.
“At the festival, I showed off my Lighting Design capstone from last semester to students and professionals from institutions all over the region,” said Zaborski. “In addition to gaining inspiration from workshops and productions that I attended, I made new friends both from Wheaton and other institutions.”
At the annual event, nearly 500 students from three dozen colleges and universities in New England and eastern New York participated in theater and production workshops and performances, and networked with fellow thespians, faculty members and professionals. Students also received analysis and commendations of their theatrical work from the past year.
Thirteen Wheaton students represented the college at the late January conference, where they presented their scholarship from the student-produced productions of Everybody last spring and Urinetown: The Musical! last fall. The students were accompanied by Max Ponticelli, professor of the practice of theatre, who serves as an ACTF board member and co-chairs the festival’s Design, Technology & Management program.
The ACTF operates a network of professionals to attend college theater performances and provide feedback to the student performers and production crew. Their feedback often boosts the students’ confidence, according to Ponticelli.
“The most valuable thing is having the students’ work confirmed,” he said. “To have someone come in from an outside perspective and recognize the value of their work, you watch their eyes kind of explode. It’s this wonderful, blooming moment in their careers.”
The professional reviewers may also nominate the work from a production/performance for a commendation or award. Nominated students comprise a majority of the participants at each festival, where outstanding and exemplary work is recognized.
“Nominated students bring materials from their production to display at the conference,” Ponticelli explained. “At the festival’s design technology and management expo, their projects are evaluated for awards.”
Ponticelli is very proud of what the students achieved this year, and thrilled that much of their work was recognized.
“We tell them all the time that they’re doing a good job, but I don’t think they quite believe it until they get to the festival and then take the risk and see themselves succeed,” said Ponticelli. “And that’s a really valuable thing, especially in our field where most of the time, you are relying on only yourself.”
Both O’Meara and Zaborski plan to continue theatre work after graduation. Zaborski scored in the top 5 percent of an apprenticeship exam for the professional stage hands union in New York and will be headed to the Big Apple to work as an apprentice on Broadway.
O’Meara shared that he “hopes to continue pursuing theatre in all its forms.” A founding member of the theatre company, “Bits & Bobs,” he will join fellow artists in “keeping the craft I’ve learned about at Wheaton in my postgraduate life.”
Ponticelli believes that the personal approach and commitment to hands-on experience make Wheaton a special place to participate in theatre.
“We have so much one-on-one time with students. I want them to be working on something right next to me to gain practical work experience,” he explained. “Here, you get your hands dirty by getting on stage and learning about it. Sometimes that’s through mistakes, and other times through incredible success.”