(L-R) KCACTF Region 1 award winners from Westfield State University: Anaila Aleman Colon ’18, Casey Dubrowski ’19 and Madeleine Hebert ’20. (Photo courtesy of Westfield State University)
WESTFIELD – Three Westfield State University students were honored February 3 at the annual Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), hosted by Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable, Mass.
They were among 23 Westfield State students who participated in the Festival’s competitions for acting, musical theatre, directing, and design technology, among others. Students participated in a variety of available workshops offered by faculty and professionals throughout the nation, as well as a job fair/open audition/interviews for some of New England’s most prestigious professional summer theaters.
Madeleine Hebért, a junior from Framingham majoring in theatre arts, received two awards. For her scenic design of “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” she earned and honorable mention Award for Excellence in Scenic Design and for her sound design of “American Idiot,” she received the Award for Excellence in Sound Design.
With the Sound Design Award, Hebért was one of eight student sound designers from across the country to receive an invitation to the National Festival, to be held at the Kennedy Center April 15–20. There, she will present her work to top level industry professionals and will participated in masters classes taught by Tony Award-winning designers Beverly Emmons and Rob Kaplowitz. She will also be in consideration for scholarships, internships, and apprenticeships with some of the nation’s most prestigious professional theaters and training programs.
“Madeleine is our first student to achieve this honor and represent the University at a national competition,” said Sabine Klein, Ph.D., professor of theatre arts and coordinator of the Theatre Arts Program. “This is the largest gathering of theater arts students in the Northeast. All of our award-winners will grow enormously as artists through the opportunities they earned through this competition.”
Casey Dubrowski, a senior from Marshfield majoring in theatre arts, was awarded the VectorWorks Award for her lighting design of “American Idiot.” This award comes with a full professional license of Nemetschek, N.A.’s software Vectorworks Spotlight.
Anaila Aleman Colon ’18, a Springfield native, received the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas 1 Week Internship for her scenic design of “American Idiot.” This award will offer Aleman the opportunity to choose from eight different professional week-long training programs at the prestigious Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. She will receive a full tuition scholarship. Aleman Colon earned a B.A. in theatre arts from Westfield State last year.
