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Top actor
There was no way that Kelly Bartlett thought she would win an acting
award - at least that's what she used to think.
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Several days after the fact, it still hadn't sunk in for Kelly Bartlett.
"It's just incomprehensible to me," she said. "I never,
ever thought I would be in this position."
That position is one of the top two actors at the recent regional Kennedy
Center/American College Theatre Festival. The senior performing arts major
walked away from the Region V competition with an "Irene Ryan"
acting award.
A total of 300 student actors were nominated for the competition from
colleges and universities in eight states including Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.
Bartlett was nominated for her performance as Lenny in the ISU Theatre
production last September of "Crimes of the Heart." Lenny was
the oldest of three sisters who has stayed home to take care of her grandfather.
"This is a great honor for Kelly and for ISU Theatre," said
Jane Cox, associate professor of theatre and the play's director. "This
has only happened once before for ISU Theatre."
Bartlett (pictured in the middle of the photo) will now move onto the
national Kennedy Center/ACTF competition on April 14, in Washington, D.C.
She is one of 16 regional winners (two for each of the eight regions).
The regional winners receive a $500 scholarship and expenses for the trip
to Washington, DC for the final competition. Leading directors, producers
and casting agents will view that competition with two of the actors awarded
an additional $2,500 scholarship.
At the regional competition, each actor presents five minutes of work
consisting of two contrasting scenes; at least one of which was to be
performed with a student partner. No costumes can be used and the actor
will be provided two chairs and a table
Bartlett performed a comedic scene from Jane Martin's play "Jack
and Jill" and a monologue from Margie Zohn's "Joan."
"I love my monologue," Bartlett says. "It's the story of
a woman who's experiencing an unwanted pregnancy and audience members
can see it as either really dark or very comedic.
"You can chuckle at it, but realize that this is a very serious issue
that a lot of women and men go through."
Fellow Iowa State performing arts major Ryan Walrod is her scene partner
for "Jack and Jill," a comedic piece about a passive man and
an aggressive women on their first date.
"The judges obviously saw something in those two scenes that they
liked," Bartlett said.
Bartlett however still can't believe she is going to Washington and the
national collegiate acting finals.
"I'm just one of 16 actors in the nation," she said. "I
can’t wait to see the others act and learn as much as I can.
"I just want the judges and the audience to be entertained or moved
in the five minutes I have on the stage."
Another cast member of "Crimes of the Heart," Melissa Larsen,
a senior performing arts major from Ogden, reached the semifinals of the
same regional competition. Larsen (pictured on the right in the photo)
played Babe in the production, the youngest of three sisters who has led
a pampered and protected life married to the richest man in town.
A second ISU Theatre production, "Heroes Among Us" is an original
play written by Cox about 11 men and one woman who defended their country
in World War II. The script was based on interviews with Iowa veterans
who served in the Army Infantry, Army Artillery, 101st Airborne, Marine
Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Army Air Corps and the Army Medical Corps.
Around LAS
February 11-24, 2002
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