Center Theatre Group Announces Regional Finalists For 2020 August Wilson Monologue Competition

Center Theatre Group has selected 12 local high school students to participate in the regional finals for the 2020 August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) to be held at the Mark Taper Forum on Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

This is the ninth consecutive year Center Theatre Group is hosting the Los Angeles component of the national monologue competition. The program is designed to inspire and educate Los Angeles youth using monologues from August Wilson's "American Century Cycle," a 10-play cycle that details the complexity of the African American experience in the 20th century. Those selected to participate in the regional finals are Kyle Branch (Los Angeles), Daniel Cuasay (Moreno Valley), Fletcher Jones (Los Angeles), Jayla Jones (Sunland-Tujunga), David Kwon (Fullerton), Milan Lapesarde (Los Angeles), Miko Alicia Mariscal (Los Angeles), Samantha del Rey (Sylmar), Nailah Shorter (Pasadena), Theodore Taylor III (Los Angeles), Tyla Uzo (Gardena) and Onnie Williams IV (Alhambra). The students represent nine local high schools within Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. Branch also participated in the 2019 competition.

The students selected will receive training and rehearsal sessions provided by Center Theatre Group throughout January and February. The sessions will allow the students to refine their performances while gaining valuable acting techniques.

On February 25, the 12 regional finalists will perform their monologues at the Mark Taper Forum in front of an invited audience, including a panel of judges. The two top- performing students will earn an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for the chance to perform in the AWMC national finals; the third place student will serve as alternate. The national finals will take place on May 4 at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway. As preparation for the national component of the competition, all three students will receive master classes to workshop their monologues, as well as scholarship awards.

The program kicked off this season with a preliminary audition that featured 122 students in 10th, 11th or 12th-grade from 30 different high schools in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Fifty-four of those students advanced to a semi-final audition held at The Music Center Annex in December 2019 where the aforementioned 12 regional finalists were selected to move forward.

Center Theatre Group also offers an in-school residency as part of the larger August Wilson Program. The August Wilson In-School Residency is a semester-long program that provides Title 1 students with an in-depth study of the work of August Wilson. This year, classes from Animo Leadership Charter High School, Carson High School and Roybal Learning Center will take part in the residency. The students and teachers from the three classrooms selected will attend the AWMC Los Angeles Regional Finals as part of their residency experience, witnessing the power of theatre as their peers bring August Wilson's characters to life.

AWMC is a national program presented by Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters and hosted in cities throughout the country, including Atlanta; Boston; Buffalo, New York; Chicago; Dallas; Greensboro, North Carolina; Los Angeles; New Haven, Connecticut; New York; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; San Diego; and Seattle. Each city runs its program differently and each experience is designed to provide intensive learning opportunities for high school students to study and practice the craft of acting through the work of August Wilson.

Center Theatre Group's August Wilson Program is presented by the Center Theatre Group Affiliates. The August Wilson Program receives generous support from the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund and the Rosenthal Family Foundation as well as support from The Michael Shaw Jacobs Fund, Lawrence P. Frank Foundation, Sascha Brastoff Foundation and Joseph Drown Foundation.

Center Theatre Group honors its long-standing relationship with August Wilson through its August Wilson Program, as well as through its continued production of Wilson's work. Center Theatre Group has presented nine of Wilson's plays, including two world premiere productions of his work. Most recently, Wilson's "Jitney" had a successful run at the Mark Taper Forum in 2019.

More information on Center Theatre Group's August Wilson Monologue Competition can be found at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/AugustWilson.

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