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On Cue Newsletter

June, 2025

Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com


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ACT/OCTA Fest wrap up

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The annual festival has wrapped up and what a wonderful weekend.

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First, it takes a village to make this work. We have the best regional festival in the whole state. There is no other region in the state that handles their regionals like we do. All of the ACT groups are required to handle the jobs necessary to make this work. Even though the excerpt portion of the weekend is the OCTA event, the ACT 1st VP is the person who handles making all the theater, hotel and banquet arrangements. Amanda Emmons Shumate has been THE person who has done this these past few years and what a wonderful job she has done. The whole event ran smoothly. There was a glitch with the hotel reservation, but Amanda worked to secure another hotel and a place for the annual banquet. Both places were well received.

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Mary Stone, the OCTA lead regional rep did an outstanding job of keeping the proceedings on time. Before each session, a video is shown that contains the people who are nominated for the 3 major awards and also a memorial showing those people who have died this year. After this, each excerpt is announced and the fun begins.

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Now, let’s look at the OCTA excerpts.

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Our region had 11 theaters participate, and they presented some great shows making the adjudicators decisions very difficult to make.

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The adjudicators this year were Bruce Jacklin, Pat Potter and Deb Wentz. The OCTAfest chair was Theresa Benyo Marzullo and the administrative assistant was Aara Wise.

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The adjudicators gave out 70 awards this year, which may have been the most given. Here is a breakdown of those awards.

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THESE SHINING LIVES – The Village Playhouse of Ft. Thomas

  • Evan Beckmeyer – Excellence in Acting as Tom Donahue

  • Sydney Vollmer – Excellence in Acting as Catherine Donahue

  • Nathan Turner – Merit in Acting as Announcer

  • The Village Players of Ft. Thomas – Merit in Set Transitions

  • Sydney Vollmer/Tamara Sanow/Madelynn Meredith/Claudia Covarrubias – Merit in Acting as Ensemble Quartet

 

PUFFS – Tri-County Players

  • Niki Rasmussen – Merit in Acting as Megan

  • Niki Rasmussen/Mason Glass/James Pinkley – Merit in Ensemble Trio as Megan/Oliver/Wayne

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12 ANGRY JURORS – Queen City Productions

  • Jenny Caplan – Merit in Acting as Juror 10

  • Rockford Koehler – Merit in Acting as Juror 3

  • Rae Moretti – Merit in Acting as Juror 7

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DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS – Footlighters, Inc.

  • Carolyn Martinez – Outstanding in Costumes

  • Kimmie Anne Thierauf/Jerry Wiesenhahn – Outstanding in Choreography

  • Jerry Wiesenhahn – Outstanding in Direction

  • The Cast of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Outstanding in Ensemble

  • Wayne Wright – Outstanding in Musical Theatre Performance as Lawrence

  • Robert Breslin – Outstanding in Musical Theatre Performance as Freddy

  • Laura Petracco – Outstanding in Musical Theatre Performance as Jolene

  • Rebecca Wall – Excellence in Vocal Performance as Christine

  • Jen Drake – Excellence in Vocal Performance as Muriel

  • Ryan Oelker – Excellence in Set Design

  • Footlighters, Inc. – Excellence in Set Transitions

  • Wes Ledyard – Excellence in Props

  • Greg Dastillung – Outstanding in Vocal Direction

  • Charlie Wilhelm – Outstanding in Musical Direction

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MOON OVER BUFFALO – Mariemont Players

  • Linda Roll – Excellence in Costumes

  • Aimee Ward – Excellence in Acting as Rosalind

  • Evan Blanton – Merit in Acting as Howard

  • John Conrard – Merit in Acting as George

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SOUTHERN BELLES – Sunset Players

  • Dennis Murphy – Excellence in Directing

  • Dennis Murphy – Excellence in Playwriting

  • The Cast of Southern Belles – Excellence in Ensemble

  • Rilla Foster – Merit in Acting as Gaybelle Reardon

  • Kathie Labanz – Merit in Acting as Sally Belle Robinson

  • Virginia Venegas – Merit in Acting as Maribelle Wainwright

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THE CEMETERY CLUB – Mason Community Players

  • Ray Lebowski – Excellence in Directing

  • Kally Turner – Merit in Costumes

  • The Cast of The Cemetery Club – Merit in Ensemble

  • Bob Brunner – Merit in Acting as Sam

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DOG SEES GOD – Centerstage Players

  • Ellis Quinne – Excellence in Acting as CB

  • The Cast of Dog Sees God – Excellence in Ensemble

  • Roman Harris-Richardson – Excellence in Acting as Beethoven

  • Deanna Berryhill/Faith Von Handorf – Merit in Duo Acting as Tricia & Marcy

  • Christine Gallagher – Merit in Acting as CB’s Sister

  • Parker Culp – Merit in Directing

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MY THREE ANGELS – The Drama Workshop

  • Dennis Murphy/Anne Connor Stanforth – Outstanding in Costumes

  • Dennis Murphy – Excellence in Directing

  • Dennis Murphy – Excellence in Set Design

  • Chris Eyers – Merit in Acting as Henri

  • Michael Kiser – Merit in Acting as Felix

  • The Cast of My Three Angels – Excellence in Ensemble

  • Christie Bishop – Merit in Acting as Jules

  • Ken Macke – Merit in Acting as Joseph

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DISENCHANTED – Loveland Stage Company

  • Monica Weber – Excellence in Musical Theatre Performance as Snow White

  • Pettrina Barresi – Excellence in Musical Theatre Performance as Cinderella

  • Kayla Haas – Excellence in Musical Theatre Performance as Sleeping Beauty

  • Melinda Hubbard – Outstanding in Costumes

  • Christina Siciliano – Excellence in Hair and Make-up

  • The Cast of Disenchanted – Outstanding in Vocal Ensemble

  • Tom Cavano – Merit in Set Pieces

  • Carissa Sloan – Excellence in Directing

  • Jon Scheiding – Outstanding in Musical Direction

  • Jon Scheiding & Bob Schwartz – Outstanding in Pit Performance

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SEUSSICAL, THE MUSICAL – Innovatheatre

  • Michaela Back & Michelle Back – Excellence in Costumes

  • Angela Dixon – Excellence in Vocal Performance as Sour Kangaroo

  • Janiya Nickell – Merit in Vocal Performance as Baby Kangaroo

  • Charlie MacPherson – Excellence in Musical Theatre Performance as JoJo

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Each region receives 1 invitee to the state conference for every 4 participating theaters plus an alternate is selected and will participate at state if needed. These selections are:

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  • Alternate – Southern Bells-Sunset Players

  • Invitee – My Three Angels-The Drama Workshop

  • Invitee – Disenchanted-Loveland Stage Company

  • Invitee – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels-Footlighters

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Congratulations to all the winners and to the invitees from our region.

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Now to look at the ACT part of the weekend.​

 

There are 3 big awards given annually and these are to honor 3 people whose contribution to theatre is legendary.

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Art Rouse Award Recipients:​

  • 2025 - Robert Weidle

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Mario Pitocco Award Recipients:

  • 2025 - Carolyn Martinez

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Roger Grooms Award Recipients:

  • 2025 - Douglas Berlon

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2025 Joel Lind Rising Star Award Winners:

  • Curtis Perea – Acting Up

  • Nor White – Beechmont Players

  • Allie Webber – CenterStage Players

  • Savanah Kennedy – Cincinnati Music Theatre

  • Evan Blanton – Footlighters, Inc.

  • Michaela Cramer – INNOVATheatre

  • Kyle Echols – Loveland Stage Company

  • Matthew O'Brien – Mariemont Players

  • Eva Bower – Mason Community Players

  • Lauren Davidson – Queen City Productions

  • Elise Gillespie – Rivertown Players

  • Parker Dreier – Sunset Players

  • Lisa White – The Drama Workshop

  • Mindi Emmons – Tri-County Players

  • Drue Harris – Village Players of Fort Thomas

 

Congratulations to all of these winners.

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The President’s Award is given annually by the President of ACT to an ACT board member who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to the goals of ACT during that particular year. The award generally goes to the board member who has gone beyond the normal duties of their position and demonstrated extra effort.

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Fred Hunt presented this award to:

  • 2025 - Mark Culp, Jon Scheiding, & Amanda Emmons Shumate

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The big awards of the night were the Orchids which were presented by 2nd VP Mark Culp. This year there were 55 shows, with 1,427 nominations and 780 Orchids given.

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Each theater group can participate in this process. 3 responders attend a performance of the show and provide feedback on the production. In order to receive an Orchid award, at least 2 of the 3 responders have to nominate a person or category for an award. Here is a breakdown of the awards handed out.

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The ACT website contains a lot of information about all of the above as well as information on all of the ACT member groups. Check it out.

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At the last meeting of the season, new Regional Representatives were selected by the member groups to represent our region and work with our individual members to keep them informed of OCTA happenings. This year, these people are: Jane Culp, Judy Berrens, John Masterson, Mark Culp, Phil Catlin and Linda Roll, who will take over from Mary Stone as lead representative to OCTA. Kevin Noll is stepping down as a rep this coming year. Thank you, Kevin for keeping our region informed. Also, at this time, Ray Lebowski who has been a board member is stepping down due to health issues. Hopefully he will return soon.

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Mary Stone is taking over a critical ACT position and is also stepping out of OCTA. Mary has done an excellent job in making the process for a theater to participate in the regional by putting all (or most) of the paperwork involved online. This quickens the process and also allows for the selection of performance times to go smoothly. Mary will be missed for sure.

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ACT NEWS

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This has been a growing year for ACT as we have added 3 new theatre groups to the fold. Royal Theatre Company, Rivertown Players and Harrison Center for the Arts are our newest member theaters. Welcome to all.

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Elections of ACT officers took place at the May ACT meeting. Officers can only serve 3 years in one position and only 6 years on the board before they have to step off for at least a year.

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There were a number of officers who have to step down. Leaving their positions are President, Fred Hunt, 1st Vice President, Amanda Emmons Shumate, 2nd Vice President, Mark Culp and Amy Waldfogle, Awards chair.

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The new officers elected for 2025-26 year are:

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  • Amanda Emmons Shumate - President

  • Mary Stone - 1st Vice President

  • Betsy Obermeyer - 2nd Vice President

  • Peyton Hahn - Treasurer 

  • Lauren Davidson - Secretary

  • Kat Falk - Awards

  • Arlene Balzco - Scholarship

  • Justin Hanks - Marketing​

Fall, 2024
Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com

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OCTA NEWS


The 2024 OCTA Conference “Thinking Outside The Box” was held on September 6-9 with excerpts taking place at the Midland Theatre in Newark, Ohio. There were 14 excerpts scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. Because of the number of theaters we had in our region, 3 shows were selected to represent our region at this event. Those theaters/shows were CenterStage Players with Only Rose, The Drama Workshop with The Tin Woman, and Mariemont Players with The Book of Will.  The Drama Workshop and CenterStage Players were also in the mix of groups who were in contention to be picked for the AACT regional competition. Only Rose was selected as an alternate to this event in case any of the shows that were selected cannot participate. Congratulations to CenterStage Players.

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There were various awards given out over the weekend. The most anticipated awards were those given to the groups who excerpted. Southwest theaters received the following awards:


Only Rose

  • DENNIS MURPHY    EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTION    ONLY ROSE

  • DENNIS MURPHY    MERIT IN LIGHT DESIGN    ONLY ROSE

  • CHRIS EYERS    MERIT IN SOUND DESIGN    ONLY ROSE

  • NICK DUNKER    EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS TOM    ONLY ROSE

  • MARY JO BISSMEYER    OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS ROSE    ONLY ROSE


The Tin Woman

 

  • JERRY WIESENHAHN    MERIT IN DIRECTION

  • CHRISTIE BISHOP    MERIT IN ACTING AS HANK

  • ROSE VANDEN EYNDEN    MERIT IN ACTING AS ALICE

  • JESSIE FAYE    MERIT IN ACTING AS SAMMY

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The Book of Will

  • ANN NIXON    OUTSTANDING IN DIALECT COACH

  • JEF BROWN    OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTION

  • FAYE CRAWFORD    OUTSTANDING IN COSTUMES

  • LINDA ROLL    OUTSTANDING IN COSTUMES

  • PAM KAESEMEYER    EXCELLENCE IN PROPS

  • RYAN BOWRON    EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS BEN

  • KEITH CASSIDY    OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS HENRY

  • JOHN CONRARD    OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS JOHN

  • ALICIA FRIEDMAN    MERIT IN ACTING AS ELIZABETH

  • ANNA HAZARD    MERIT IN ACTING AS REBECCA

  • MICHAEL IRELAND    MERIT IN ACTING AS WILLIAM

  • WAYNE KIRSCH    EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS RALPH

  • BURT MCCOLLUM    MERIT IN ACTING AS SIR EDWARD

  • SUSAN E. SMITH    MERIT IN ACTING AS FRUIT SELLER/COMPOSITOR

  • MARY STONE    OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS EMILIA

  • AMY STIER    EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS ALICE

  • COLLIN WENZELL    OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS ISAAC

  • BRYCE WILSON    EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS MARCUS


Congratulations to all of these winners.

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There were several other awards given to our region.


Ron and Freida Houck were inducted into the OCTA Hall of Fame. Both of them along with several family members were at the Sunday banquet to receive this coveted award. 


Greg Schaper and Jennifer Day were awarded the OCTA Spirit of Community Theatre award at our Southwest regional banquet in June.


Carissa Sloan received an Excellence in overall costume coordination for The Red Velvet Cake War.


Faye Crawford received an Outstanding award for her individual costume for Emilia’s dress in The Book of Will.


Christina Siciliano received an Excellence in hair and makeup for The Red Velvet Cake War.


The Southwest region was the overall leader in Patron giving with a total of $3,029.22. 


Carissa Sloan and Christina Siciliano were elected to the OCTA board and will be joining Ray Lebowski, Wayne Kirsch and Denise Schneiders representing our region.

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OCTA also inducted John Falkenbach into the Hall of Fame for his many years of service to OCTA. Even though John was in the West region, he was well known to many of us in the Southwest, acting as stage manager to many of our state conferences. He was a past president of OCTA and was the Administrative division leader this past year. Unfortunately, John died shortly after the October board retreat from a fast-moving form of cancer. His presence will be greatly missed by all who knew him.


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ACT NEWS


The first ACT meeting of the 2024-2025 season is scheduled for September 24 at 7pm at the Dunham Recreation Center. It is important that each group is represented at this meeting as there will be a vote on the proposed budget for this coming season. Also, if there has been a change in who is your group’s president and treasurer, please let Secretary Betsy Obermeyer know at secretary@actcincinnati.org as well as Jon Scheiding at treasurer@actcincinnati.org.  This will guarantee that the person who is responsible for sending in your dues is notified. Why is this important? According to the ACT bylaws, all groups need to have their dues paid before they are allowed to vote on any matters that come up for vote.


Notice anything about these email addresses? Well, every board member will have an email address with the actcincinnati.org email, e.g. if you want to reach out to say president, that address would be president@actcincinnati.org. Jon Scheiding has been working to get this in place. That way, as people move in/out of those offices, in order to reach them, just use the office title. 


At the May ACT meeting, Mary Stone had to vacate her job as Marketing/Publicity Chair. Justin Hanks was elected to fill the position. Mary has done a remarkable job in that position and as her last action has been tasked with creating a 70th ACT Anniversary logo for this year. This will be submitted to the board for discussion. 


At this first meeting the OCTA representatives from our member groups voted on the regional representatives to OCTA from our region. They are Kevin Noll, John Masterson, Jane Culp, Judy Berrens and Linda Roll and Mary Stone who will be the lead representative. The goal is to give more one-on-one representation to help navigate all groups through all things OCTA.


This coming season marks ACT’s 70th Anniversary. All of our member groups are asked to submit a brief history of their theaters and where they see in the future. These histories will be highlighted in various media along with how and why ACT was started as well as the origins of the Orchid awards. Hopefully this will be a great way to celebrate this unique organization. Watch for these on ACT’s social media pages and on the website throughout the year.

 

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Since our theater groups are using social media to share information, it has become apparent that this newsletter has become redundant. Thoughts?

 

Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional. Thanks to all of you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati theater.​​

Winter, 2024

Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com


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There is a lot of news to talk about.

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The most important news is the location of the 2024 ACT/OCTA Regional Conference. Amanda Emmons Shumate, ACT’s 1st Vice President, has secured Princeton High School’s Matthews Auditorium. The dates are June 14-15, with the 13th if needed. Also, if you haven’t done so yet, secure your rights now- applying now guarantees you can decide later as to what show you wish to excerpt. The pick meeting will be 7:00pm on May 6th, at Matthews Auditorium.

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The banquet will be held at the Delta by Marriott Cincinnati Sharonville Hotel which is adjacent to the school. Instead of a sit-down dinner, it will be buffet style.  For those of you wishing to book a room, the hotel rate is $119 a night. There is no free breakfast, but there are plenty of places to eat nearby. Everyone who has attended the banquet facility at the Embassy Suites knows that we have really outgrown this space. Those who attend the awards/party only have been relegated to sit in chairs either placed around the room or on the dance floor. This new hotel has a room large enough to allow you to be seated at designated tables.

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You can reserve a room at the hotel now. Delta Hotels Cincinnati Sharonville for 119 USD per night

Book your group rate for ACT Cincinnati

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Forrest Goodwin will DJ again this year.

We are very excited about this change and hope this will become a permanent location. Fees to attend may increase slightly.

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We are seeking dual corporate sponsorships for banquet and excerpts to offset costs.

Check the actcincinnati.org for future information and when registration will be open.

The ACT treasurer has secured a new method of payment for registration. ACT will be using Zeffy a fee free platform. We are asking that even if you send in your payment by check that you still go to the site and enter your information.

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In keeping with one of our core values to “Educate”, ACT Cincinnati is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 performance scholarships:

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  • The Dee Wacksman Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Carson Mehlbauer, attending University of Cincinnati- CCM

  • The ACT Cincinnati Scholarship was awarded to Claire M. Northcut, attending Wright State University

  • The Robert & Helen Booth Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Hannah Richardson, attending Xavier University

  • The Dorothy & Frank Weber Memorial Scholarship was awarded to James Newton, attending Wright State University

  • The Susann Q. Royalty Performing Arts Scholarship was awarded to Erin Morton, attending University of Cincinnati-CCM

  • The Freshman Performing Arts Scholarship was awarded to Afton Skeeters, attending Northern Kentucky University

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Congratulations to these students and thank you to all the students who applied this year. Special thanks to accompanist Paul Chiappone, Scholarship Chairperson Arlene Balczo, and our panel of judges: Piper N. Davis, Matt Dentino, Jay Goodlett, Sara Mackie, Derek J. Snow, and Tony Suriano.

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The Charles Avery Memorial – Keystone and Melissa M. Smith Technical scholarships are intended for any student that is continuing their technical theater education in the area(s) of: Set Design, Scenic Design, Construction, or Décor elements, Lighting Design, Sound Design, Costume Design, Makeup/Hair Design elements, Properties, Stage Management, or any combination of the above. The scholarship is open to college Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior students currently enrolled in an accredited bachelor's degree program. Students must attend a college within 50 miles of the greater Cincinnati area and/or have a connection to one of our ACT Cincinnati member groups.

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There is both a $700 and a $1000 scholarship available. The deadline is 11:59pm ET on March 31st. For further information on the scholarships and the criteria, go to our scholarships page.

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Betsy Obermeyer, John Wesseling, and Aubrey Wilson will select the winners.

(Information provided by Arlene Balczo)

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The winter Responders forum was held on Saturday, February 24th at the Village Players, in Ft. Thomas. Betsy Obermeyer put together a very interesting set of forums to help with what to look for when writing a response. If you missed the presentation, you can find it on our Long Range Responding Committee page.

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In keeping with two of our core values to "Connect" and "Educate", ACT Cincinnati is proud to debut our Mentor Match program. The purpose of this program is to facilitate connections among our community members who are wanting to expand their theater knowledge with others who want to impart their theater knowledge.

 

We all have things we want to learn. We all have things we can teach. If you are interested in being a part of this program, go to our Mentor Match page.

 

Your name and contact information WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED anywhere - these will be personal introductions facilitated by the ACT Education Committee members. When there seems to be enough interest, ACT Cincinnati will schedule classes or workshops.

 

If you'd like to help with this work, or if you have any questions, please contact education@actcincinnati.org

 

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Linked here is a list of upcoming deadlines from Amanda Emmons Shumate, ACT 1st VP. This sheet is a living document and will be continually be updated. ​

 

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OCTA NEWS

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Let’s talk about the ACT/OCTA Regional Competition.

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The Regional is composed of excerpts hosted by OCTA and the banquet/awards/party hosted

by ACT. In other areas of Ohio, there is one theatre who acts as host of the regional. That theatre makes all the arrangements, books a theatre and does whatever is necessary to host the competition.

There is no other area in the state that has the great organization that we have in our southwest region. Since all of us are considered the “host” we ALL pitch in to make our regional work. So, that is why at the annual banquet, we have not only ACT awards, but the OCTA awards from the excerpts. Each group has a job to do which are decided by each group’s ACT representative who attends the monthly ACT meetings.

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If your group is planning to excerpt, the link to all the information you will need is available on the OCTA website. On the documents and forms page, you will find the Regional Festival Theatre Entry Packet. (This is also where you will find the information for the 2025 AACT festival if your group is also to be considered.) The regional entry packet information will also be found on the ACT website.

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At this time, there may be as many as 14 groups excerpting. If that holds, the Thursday night of excerpts will be needed. If less than that number, we are looking at only Friday and Saturday. Again, we will keep you updated by as many ways as possible. The number of our groups who are selected to go to the state competition hinges on how many groups excerpt. The OCTA rules are for every 4 groups excerpting, 1 gets picked. Therefore, if we have 14 excerpts, we have 4 groups and an alternate selected to attend the state competition held over Labor Day Weekend. The alternate will be selected if one of our groups cannot go to the state or if needed to meet the OCTA quota. This is done on a rotating basis between the 8 regions.

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This is also a year to decide if you want your excerpt to be considered to compete in the AACT festival in 2025. You have to declare at the time you are selected to compete at the state level if you would like to be considered for AACT.

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NOW you may ask, what about the state competition. There is a new change here and hopefully it will continue into the future. Excerpts in a real theatre setting.

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The 2024 OCTA Conference “Thinking Outside The Box” will be held on August 30 - September 2, 2024 with excerpts taking place at the Midland Theatre in Newark, Ohio. Yes, all the excerpts will take place in a THEATRE! OCTA has again made arrangements for the Cherry Valley Hotel for lodging, the annual banquet, and other after-hours activities. This hotel is under new ownership, and everyone is encouraged to book their stay at this hotel. Even though there were problems with this hotel in the past, OCTA had committed to holding 2024 there. Just like locally, according to the contract there is a minimum of rooms nights that OCTA has to provide in order to NOT incur a penalty. So please, if you are selected to attend the state conference or just plan to attend, plan to stay here. You can book your room now by contacting the hotel directly and asking for OCTA. Let them know if you want 1st floor or 2nd floor near elevator.

As the year progresses, more information will become available.

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For all you techies, OCTA has quite a few competitions to enter: costume, set design, props, and newsletter. All of these can be found on the OCTA website. You can find the forms needed under the various categories along with the date the items are due. PLEASE, enter these competitions and get recognized for all your work.

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OCTA NEEDS YOU!

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SO, you want to have input on how OCTA runs? This is for you.

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OCTA is looking for people who are interested in becoming a part of the board. The board consists of not only the regional representatives from the 8 regions of the state, but also an 18-member board elected by its member theatre groups at the annual convention held over Labor Day weekend each year. This is where you come in.

At this time, there are 6 three-year terms that need to be filled on this board. The board, with guidance from the regions, creates and implements policies that govern the organization. If you are interested in being a board member, you are asked to submit an application, which is available on the OCTA website. All other information you need to make an informed decision is attached to the application document.

Can OCTA count on you?

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OCTA recognized The Drama Workshop on their 70th anniversary opening night of Becky’s New Car. Peggy Kenney was on hand to present the group with a certificate to celebrate the occasion. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

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Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional.

Thanks to all of you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati theatre.

September 1-4, 2023 Conference Wrap Up 

Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com


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What a weekend. What a conference. The Southwest knows how to have a good time.

As co-chair of the conference, Peggy Kenney did an excellent job with keeping the whole thing in motion. Unfortunately, Robert Weidle, the other co-chair had some medical issues that took him away from his assistance, but he is on the mend and hopefully he will continue to get stronger.

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As in the past, there was an activity scheduled for anyone to take part in. Each day, there was a different activity that allowed people to collect stars for prizes. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there were hotel stays donated by various hotels in the area and each had an activity associated with it. All of the daily winners were still eligible to win the grand prize which was a 3-night stay in Gatlinburg, which was given by an anonymous donor. The winner of that stay was Ruth Crowley.

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The attendance this year was not as high as it has usually been for our region, but considering the state of theatre these past few years, it wasn’t bad. There were 226 people who registered for the full package, 95 for Saturday, 44 for Sunday, and 18 musicians. Out of these, there were 152 first time attendees. Sharon Buchtman and Judy Berrens had plenty of activities for them to participate in with one person winning a basket of goodies. It is hoped that a lot of them will return next year, even if they are not in an excerpt.

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Besides all of the excerpts, there were workshops scheduled on all aspects of theatre from acting, to technical elements, stage combat, and the administrative side of theatre. There were also workshops on how to write a play. One of the highlights of the weekend was a workshop by Richard Oberacker who not only gave a highlight of how a musical comes together but also a Musical Theatre Master Class. He worked with several individuals and offered in-depth advice and specific techniques on elevating the performance of a song into a unique expression of character. All who attended this workshop benefited from his expertise.

 

So, for those of you who don’t know, our region had 4 excerpts at the OCTA conference. In case you didn’t hear, here is the list of awards handed out to our groups. Congratulations to everyone on the awards.

 

KINKY BOOTS

  • JOHN MICHAEL DURNIL MERIT IN ACTING AS GEORGE​

  • THE CAST MERIT IN ENSEMBLE​

  • THE ORCHESTRA EXCELLENCE IN MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT​

  • ROBERT BRESLIN OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS CHARLIE PRICE​

  • GARRETT KLAAS OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS LOLA/SIMON​

  • REBECCA WALL OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS LAUREN

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A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER

  • CHAD BRINKMAN OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTING​

  • ALAN MASTERS OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL DIRECTING​

  • AMANDA MARASCH OUTSTANDING IN CHOREOGRAPHY​

  • THE CAST OUTSTANDING IN ENSEMBLE​

  • THE CAST OUTSTANDING IN VOCAL ENSEMBLE​

  • WAYNE WRIGHT OUTSTANDING IN VARIETY PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION

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KEN LUDWIG'S THE GODS OF COMEDY

  • DOUG BERLON EXCELLENCE IN SOUND DESIGN​

  • JENNIFER DAY OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTING​

  • THE CAST OUTSTANDING IN ENSEMBLE

 

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

  • ELLIS QUINNE MERIT IN ACTING AS RODOLPHO​

  • BURT MCCOLLOM MERIT IN ACTING AS ALFIERI​

  • BRIANA KENNEDY EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS CATHERINE​

  • TOM PETERS OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTION​

  • JONN BACA OUTSTANDING IN FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY​

  • KEITH CASSIDY OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS EDDIE CARBONE​

  • MARY STONE OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS BEATRICE CARBONE

 

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Each year, OCTA inducts people or theatre groups into the Hall of Fame. These nominations are for a lifetime of commitment to promoting theatre. It is an honor to announce that Burt McCollom was chosen to be inducted into the OCTA Hall of Fame. Those of you who have had the pleasure of either having him for a teacher, a director, or a fellow actor on stage, know that he is most deserving of this honor. Congratulations Burt.

 

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There were several theatres who were recognized for technical awards. Footlighters Inc., Loveland Stage Company and Village Players of Fort Thomas all received awards for their newsletters and Footlighters, Inc. also received awards for their website. There were no submissions from our region for set design or costumes, so if your theatre wishes to be considered for any of these competitions, check the OCTA website for information on what the requirements are for entering. We have some great technical work on our shows, so all you technical people, look into entering for 2024.

 

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Speaking of the 2024 conference, the theme was announced at the Monday brunch. The OCTA board are conference chairs and the theme is Thinking Outside the Box. Next year’s conference will be held at the Midland Theatre and Cherry Valley once again the hotel. Also at the 2024 conference, if you wish to be considered for the 2025 AACTfest, you MUST submit your theatre at this conference. Rules and regulations are/will be available on both the AACT and OCTA websites.

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ACT held their first meeting September 26 at St Rita’s. Rivertown Players in Lawrenceburg, Indiana was voted in as the newest theatre member. Welcome and know that we are all happy to have you. ACT meets the 4th Tuesday of each month except for December, July and August. Urge your ACT rep/alt to attend and make your theatre voice heard.

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The board approved the proposed budget presented by Jon Scheiding for the 2023-24 season. Jon is also working to get every board position a google email address and to move all to business to google workspace to provide continuity when new people assume the various positions. 

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The bylaws are still being updated by John Wesseling and Joy Sharp with a few submitted each meeting for approval by the member theatres. It is an ongoing process and John and Joy are doing a great job of updating them.

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ACT 1st VP, Amanda Emmons Shumate is looking into moving the ACT-OCTAFest from Parrish Auditorium. At this time, the person we have dealt with is retiring at the end of the year and the college is not signing any contracts until after January 1st.  Amanda is looking for a new venue that won’t be as far away for some of our groups to travel. Also, if this change comes about, she is also looking at hotels that will be large enough to host our annual banquet. Even though the Embassy Suites has been a good hotel, ACT has pretty much outgrown the facility. Hopefully she will have answers by the October meeting.

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2nd VP, Mark Culp reported on the number of shows that took place over the summer as well as those shows that are scheduled to open by the end of the year. He is placing responders with these shows and is always on the hunt for new people to train. If you or someone you know is interested in being a responder, submit your name. With the number of theatre and shows, this is a much-needed job. The bylaws state that each theatre must provide a responder candidate for each show they perform over the season.

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Amy Waldfogle is working on the annual awards and stated that Fairfield Footlighters, MERIT Theatre, Beechmont Players, and Mason Community Players on deck for committee. She is also chairing the education committee and has added Doug Bruening and Denise Schneiders to that committee. The idea behind this is to pair someone who wants to learn a skill, e.g., lighting, with a person who has that skill set. This is a valuable tool for everyone to become more educated on the various skills.

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Arlene Balzco who is working on the annual Scholarships has set the 1st Saturday in February as the date for the auditions with the 2nd Saturday as a snow date. More information will be coming. These scholarships are open to any student who is pursuing a college degree in theatre.

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Mary Stone has been doing an excellent job at marketing ACT. If you have been seeing a Show of the Week on Facebook, this is due to her. She is also keeping the website current and full of information. Be sure and check all of these out.

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ACT will be celebrating its 70th year in 2024-25.  When ACT celebrated 50 years, there was an updated history of ACT member groups. This is something that needs updating. So, please send a history of what has happened to your group in the past 20 years along with any pertinent information you want included. Send those histories to Linda Roll at llroll69@hotmail.com. This document will then be added to the website and kept with the history logs. There are also some missing years of history, so anything your group can add will be greatly appreciated. Just as an FYI, ACT was started in order to have a calendar so that there wouldn’t be more than one group presenting a show at any given time. Easy to do when there are only 13 groups doing one or two shows a season. Not so easy now with the number of theatres and shows that are being done.

 

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Thank you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati Theatre.

Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional.

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