On Feb. 7th in Montgomery, Alabama, Roanoke College swept the award ceremony at this year\u2019s annual Region 4
\nAmerican College Theatre Festival; also known as \u201cACTF\u201d for short. Three notable students in particular won astonishing
\nfirst place prizes in their respective categories, practically unheard of. This was a tiny department with a limited budget
\nagainst humongous universities with MFA programs across the entire southeast area of the country, and yet, Roanoke College managed to make a notable impression across them all.<\/p>\n
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of interviewing senior Kennedy Swineford, junior Bella Testerman, and junior Allison Dunnegan about their ACTF experience and theatric processes.<\/p>\n
Senior Kennedy Swineford is a theatre major and screen studies minor with an endless passion for acting and singing. This superstar is the Musical Initiative Region 4 first place winner, beating out over 85 nominated contestants across the southeastern nation with a $1,000 prize. Here’s what she had to say in her recent interview: <\/p>\n Q: What was your audition process to prepare for initial auditions, semifinals and finals? Were there any specific strategies you used?<\/b> <\/p>\n Q: What\u2019s your history\/background with theatre and singing? How did it become your passion and career path? <\/b> <\/p>\n Q: How did you go about picking your repertoire, such as \u201cAstonishing\u201d? <\/b> <\/p>\n Q: How did your experience differ with this ACTF festival compared to years past?<\/b> <\/p>\n Q: Did Roanoke College Theatre have an impact towards your growth as an actress? If so, what are some examples?<\/b> <\/p>\n Q: What are your next steps after such an accomplishment?<\/b> <\/p>\n Q: If you could talk to your younger self, what advice\/statements would you tell her?<\/b> <\/p>\n Q: Any closing comments or people you\u2019d like to thank?<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to thank both of my grandmas who drove me to voice lessons as a kid, and showed me my first musicals on VHS. If you have a dream that people think is crazy, it’s okay if you\u2019re the only person to see it to the end. Just work hard and prove them wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Zachary Bayers<\/p>\n Editor-in-Chief<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Feb. 7th in Montgomery, Alabama, Roanoke College swept the award ceremony at this year\u2019s annual Region 4 American College Theatre Festival; also known as \u201cACTF\u201d for short. Three notable students in particular won astonishing first place prizes in their respective categories, practically unheard of. This was a tiny department with a limited budget against…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-sunday-special"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nQ: What were your first initial thoughts and feelings upon winning the MTI category? How would such a win impact your future?<\/b>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>I was genuinely shocked. The competition is so steep, and we come from a relatively small program, so I was just happy to be included. Winning really did feel surreal. There’s no words to define the way I felt when it happened. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI think in terms of my future, it’s really cool to say that I, without having a BFA degree, was able to compete at such a high level and hold my own against such talented competition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>I selected material that I knew really well. With the timeline we have, it’s important to just pick material that you trust, and I knew I could sing at the drop of a hat; especially since once you\u2019re at the festival, the time to warm up and prep is so minimal. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI only had 15 minutes, maybe 30 to rehearse before each round of auditions, so selecting material that I trusted well enough to sing was my best option. Just know it might not be perfect, and that’s okay. So much of this career and this field is giving 100% of what you have that day. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cSome days it’s not your best, and others are, and you just have to be okay with what you give that day. In the end, musical theatre is for fun, not awards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>Ever since I can remember, I\u2019ve been a singer. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t remember a time in my life before loving music. I started doing school plays when I was seven, then I took voice lessons when I was nine, and I\u2019ve never stopped since. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cThere was a time in high school when a lot of people were trying to talk me out of theatre as a career, and I almost became an English major. But I sat back, looked at my life, and realized there’s not a version of my world that doesn\u2019t include theatre or music, and I wanted to live in a world where that was true. That’s when I made the decision to make it a career. I\u2019m still in voice lessons, working on technique and furthering my ability to this day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>There\u2019s different things you look for in a rep book. I have a lot of different material, and they all serve a different purpose. For <\/span>Astonishing<\/span><\/i>, it\u2019s a very common MTI song, and I recently performed it for Little Women. Everything else is a mix of, \u2018is it fun to sing?\u2019 Does it fit my voice? And does it show off a special skill?\u2019 Not everyone can sing pop, rock, folk and so forth, so what songs show off your ability and personality? <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI have some stuff in my book that isn\u2019t very marketable, but I love to sing it. And they can <\/span>tell <\/span><\/i>[judges] if you love to sing something. If you\u2019re good at it, they kind of don\u2019t care, because they want to see what you\u2019re best at to the best of your ability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>This year was really special. In years past, it has felt really competitive. Theatre as an industry can feel very competitive in general, like every man for himself. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cBut this year everyone was so kind, supportive, lovely, and that made it just so fun! I also directed a ten minute play besides MTI, and that was a brand new experience that went really well with me. I had so much fun, and this festival was all about fun. In years before, it’s been so nervewracking, but this time around I didn\u2019t feel that stress.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>Before coming here, I knew I was a good singer, however I did not think I was a good actor. At Roanoke, I\u2019ve been able to be a part of straight plays where I\u2019m forced to focus on my acting abilities. My confidence has really grown after that. I\u2019m always going to be a singer first, but now I know I can really hold my own as an actor\u2013 and I\u2019m just as good as that. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI used to view singing as a crutch, thinking if I can show people I\u2019m a good singer, they won\u2019t fixate on my bad acting. But my mindset\u2019s changed, now knowing my acting and singing go together and make me stronger. Theatre Roanoke has really helped me with that.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>I\u2019m always auditioning. Always. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI have an internship in Italy this summer, a costume designing internship at an opera. But I\u2019m also looking into onstage jobs, really depending on looking towards where to live. I\u2019m looking around for areas near theatres and such. I have to plan where I\u2019m going geographically before I plan out where I move. Although, I\u2019d love to make it to New York sooner than later.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201c<\/b>I\u2019d tell her it’s going to be okay. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI feel like I spent so much time trying to convince myself that I wanted to do something else, and I spent so much time focused on why I couldn\u2019t make this my career. I let so many people tell me I couldn\u2019t do it, and it took so long to unlearn all that and feel comfortable saying <\/span>this<\/span><\/i> [theatre] is what I\u2019m doing with my life. I want her to know she\u2019s good enough. I just won an award where I beat people who are in grad programs with fine arts degrees, and I\u2019d tell her to just keep working hard and to know that she is strong and talented enough to make it. However, most importantly have fun! Don\u2019t take life so seriously.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n