Louisiana AACT/Fest 2011 Announces Details And Events

Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) is honored to host the 2011 Louisiana American Association of Community Theatres Fest (AACT/Fest) February 18-19, 2011 at the Westwego Performing Arts Theatre, 177 Sala Ave in Westwego, Louisiana. The two-day festival will showcase seven short performances from theatre groups throughout the state of Louisiana. The showcase is also an adjudicated competition where the winning two presentations will have the opportunity to compete regionally and nationally. Tickets to the performance sessions held February 18 and 19 at 2PM each day for the general public is $15 per session and will be sold at the door February 18-19, 2011 at the Westwego Performing Arts Theatre. Performance sessions consist of 3-4 60minute performances with adjudication/judges feedback immediately following. Day passes and full festival passes that include workshops and more are $35-65 and will be sold at the the theatre starting at 8AM on February 18 & 19. For full schedule of events, visit www.jpas.org and click on "AACT Fest" under the "Education & Outreach" menu. Join us for great performances from some outstanding community theatres throughout the state!

What will you see at the 2011 Louisiana AACT/Fest? Presenting the Participants:
Ashe Cultural Arts Center (New Orleans, LA) A-MUSING
City Park Players (Alexandria, LA) STEAL AWAY - A FOLK TALE
Crescent City Lights Youth Theatre (New Orleans, LA) CAPTAIN LOUIE
Mahogany Ensemble Theatre (Shreveport, LA) FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS NOT ENUF
The Octavian Foundation for the Arts ( Hammond, LA) THE TELL-TALE HEART, THE BLACK CAT, THE RAVEN
Opelousas Little Theatre (Opelousas, LA) THE LION IN WINTER
Spectral Sisters Inc. (Alexandria, LA) TROUBLE BREWING

JPAS is honored to have as adjudicators KEN BOLINKSY, JAY STANLEY and LAURA HOPE. At the festival, each participating group will have 10 minutes to set up their production, 60 minutes to perform, and 10 minutes to tear down. Immediately following this, the panel of judges will offer feedback and critiques. The Louisiana State AACT/Fest is an adjudicated theatre performance festival held as part of the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) festival cycle. The cycle includes state and regional festivals and culminates with a biennial National AACT/Fest. Eligible entries come from community theatres across Louisiana. Each entry will be publicly adjudicated by a three-judge panel. The winning entry will advance to the regional AACT/Fest Held in the Spring of 2011. Any community (non-professional) theatre group or company in the state of Louisiana may participate int he festival.

Meet the AACT Fest Judges!
KEN BOLINSKY has directed more than seventy productions across a dozen states, ranging from New York's Off-Broadway to Chicago's Off-Loop. He has worked nationally as an arts education consultant and is a member of two theatrical Unions: Stage Directors & Choreographers Society and Actors' Equity Association. A Brookhaven resident, Ken currently works with the Mississippi Arts Commission, serving as State Coordinator of the NEA's Poetry Out Loud program.

Be sure to join us for Ken's Workshop on Saturday, February 19 at 11AM- 11:50 - The Tao of Directing: Less is More in Teatro Wego! Theatre

The Tao of Directing: Less is More Mounting a play or musical in a community theatre or school is usually more about producing and stage-managing than it is about the art and craft of directing. Join me for a round-table discussion of the history, philosophy, process and technique of this youngest of theatrical disciplines. This is a session for seasoned and beginning directors, student directors, wannabe directors, actors, technicians, and anyone who wonders what it is that a director is actually supposed to do!

JAY STANLEY is an alumnus of both Univ. of Nebraska and Iowa with a degree in Speech and Theatre with a minor in Business. His television and radio experiences have spanned from Nebraska to California, as well as New Orleans, including feature guest appearances on TEMPO and NBC'S RAY DUNCAN REPORT while in Los Angeles. Stanley served in the Korean Conflict as a hospital corpsman with the First Marine Division. Upon returning to California, he appeared in several movies and television shows, most notably as a character actor often portraying "tough-guy," gangster types in TV series like THE UNTOUCHABLES. Stanley has worked in every aspect of theatre, from acting and directing to producing and designing. Favorite productions and roles include FINNIAN'S RAINBOW, BECKET (King of France), THE RED SHOES (The Gypsy), HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (in which he starred and also designed the costumes) and HAMMER, BRUSH AND BROOM CREWS. For over 40 years, Stanley has been an accredited movie and theatre critic for such publications as "The Herald Dispatch," "Quote," "The Toulican" and "The Sun Herald" in Gulfport and Biloxi. "Jay Walkin' from Hollywood" was a syndicated column published in several California news and entertainment sections and also 33 foreign countries. Stanley has been a member of the Old Hollywood Press Club, the Los Angeles Critics Circle (founding member) and currently a member of the American Theatre Assoc. out of New York. Stanley has called New Orleans his home since 1994 and was a theatre/arts critic for "Vive La Vie" until Hurricane Katrina. He is a member of the Big Easy Nominating Committee For Theatre and presides over The Marquee Awards For Distinguished Performance Theatre in the New Orleans and surrounding areas.

LAURA HOPE has a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a M.A. in Drama from San Francisco State University; and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Davis. Laura served as the Resident Dramaturg at the California Shakespeare Theatre, dramaturging productions of Restoration Comedy by Amy Freed, directed by Sharon Ott, The Merchant of Venice directed by Daniel Fish, As You Like It, directed by Jonathan Moscone, Richard III directed by Mark Rucker, and George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, directed by Jonathan Moscone.

For over six seasons, Laura worked at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco where she was the Literary Manager and Festival Director, producing numerous new play festivals including, A Festival of Irish Women Playwrights, Playwrights in Danger, A Festival of Lesbian Playwrights, Plays at the Border, and Science on Stage. As an Associate Artist with Golden Thread Productions, she directed and helped choose scripts for the annual ReOrient festival, focusing on plays from or concerning the Middle East. Laura co-founded the award-winning Shee Theatre Company in San Francisco, devoted to developing women artists for the theatre, and has worked with the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation as an actor, literary manager, associate producer, and dramaturg. She performed with numerous companies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including Magic Theatre, The Shee Theatre Company, Crowded Fire, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, TheatreWorks, and the San Francisco Playhouse, and received a Dean Goodman Choice Award as Best Actress for her performance in the title role of Augustine (Big Hysteria) by Anna Furse, directed by Virginia Reed, produced by The Shee Theatre Company. Laura is currently on faculty in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Loyola University New Orleans.

More About the Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS)
Founded in 1978 by Dennis G. Assaf and Hannah Cunningham, Jefferson Performing Arts Society is a non-profit professional arts organization whose mission is to promote arts performance, training and outreach by providing a diverse range of quality programs that entertain, educate and enrich the cultural and economic vitality of Jefferson Parish, Greater New Orleans and the Gulf South.

JPAS focuses on three main elements:
PERFORMANCE JPAS annually provides a wide range of theatrical performances that appeal to many interests and age groups. Most seasons include a selection of grand opera, musical theater, dance and music. JPAS strives to network and partner with national and International Artists and companies to bring new and diverse programming to the Southern Region.

TRAINING JPAS provides performance and technical based training in the arts for all ages with a particular focus on young people.

OUTREACH JPAS provides arts education programming in local area schools, as well as access to professional theatrical experiences that align to classroom curricula and Louisiana Content Standards, including Arts Adventure Series, Cultural Crossroads and Stage Without A Theatre. JPAS provides performers, musicians, artistic experiences and expertise to select area events and organizations to enrich the community.

 

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