Santa Fe College is hosting the 55th annual Florida Theatre Conference Festival, one of the largest theatre festivals in the southern states, Oct. 27-29 at the Northwest campus, 3000 NW 83rd St.
The festival includes workshops in all areas of theatre — singing, acting, pantomime, dance, stage combat, directing, make up, costume and play writing — and all technical areas of the stage. More than 1,500 young performing arts students and practitioners from across the state will be in attendance. Workshop leaders come from professional and educational institutions across Florida and the nation.
“After three site visits, Santa Fe College was chosen to host this prestigious annual event for the first time, and it’s also the first time it has been held in the northern region of Florida,” said Professor of Theatre Terry A. Klenk. “This is the largest event of its kind in the southeast and is a part of the larger Southeast Theatre Conference. It was awarded regional development and Publix grants.”
The secondary school one-act play competition, community theatre play festival, and shows presented by Theatre for Youth will be hosted in Santa Fe’s new Fine Arts Hall. Inexpensive day passes (just $5) are available, first come, first served, and cover admission to all performances, the one-act play competition, and the Youth Theatre Festival. Passes will be for sale in the Fine Arts Hall lobby at the conference registration desk. Pass holders may attend 28 high school performances beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, and running through 8:30 p.m. Performances continue on Friday from 8:45 a.m. until 8:50 p.m., and Theatre for Youth performs on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Conference registration is just $35 for all three days and can be purchased on site at the registration desk in the Fine Arts Hall lobby.
The festival provides a venue where pre-registered junior and senior secondary students, and transferring community/state college students, may audition for the many colleges and universities represented at the festival. In additiojn, two cash scholarships will be awarded to deserving secondary school students. The festival also hosts the screening auditions for participation at the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Three hundred pre-registered students vie for 50 Florida state slots to audition at the regional conference.
A College Fair and Vendor Expo will be set up in the Fine Arts Hall lobby during the entire conference. It is organized to provide the full scope of academic opportunities for student conference goers.
Santa Fe Provost Ed Bonahue and Fine Arts Chair Alora Haynes, along with FTC President Rick Kirby and Executive Director Robert Ankrim, and Klenk, will address the closing ceremony on Saturday at 8 p.m., when many student awards and professional achievement awards will be given out.
For more information, please visit the Florida Theatre Conference online at http://www.flatheatre.org/. The festival begins Thursday, Oct. 27 and ends on Saturday, Oct. 29. The event will take place in the Fine Arts Hall, E Building Auditorium, workshop classrooms, R-101, and S-29/30.
For more information, please contact Professor Terry A. Klenk at terry.klenk@sfcollege.edu or 352-395-5092, or Fine Arts Chair Alora Haynes at 352-395-5296 or alora.haynes@sfcollege.edu.
CONTACT:
- Professor Terry A. Klenk, 352-395-5092, or 352-222-6609 (cell) or terry.klenk@sfcollege.edu
- Fine Arts Chair Alora Haynes, 352-395-5296 or 352-222-0779 (cell) or alora.haynes@sfcollege.edu
- Julie Garrett, media relations, for assistance facilitating your story, 352-395-5430 or 352-870-2924 (cell) or julie.garrett@sfcollege.edu