Three Chaminade students will be bound to Los Angeles to participate in the annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, which will be on Feb. 12-15.
Juniors Adam Brewer and Rachael Paeste and sophomore Nicole Enos are a part of a group of nine students who will be re-enacting the screenplay of “Almost, Maine,” which was Chaminade’s fall production, at the Kennedy Theatre in Los Angeles.
“I’m excited,” Enos, 19, said. “I think it’s an awesome opportunity to at least experience it.”
Under the direction of Christopher Patrinos, who is the technical director at Chaminade, the nine students from Chaminade will be spending a week showcasing “Almost, Maine” to hundreds of other theater students across the nation and participating in other performing arts-related activities.
The annual festival recognizes students from colleges in the U.S. and emphasizes the students’ work in the performing arts. This includes acting, stage management, theatre journalism and other categories. After being selected to perform in their respective regional festivals, students will be eligible to win scholarships and advance to the national festival.
This is the first time that a group of Chaminade students is involved in the festival. But with the help of Jean Rolles, a member of the Chaminade University Board of Regents and a strong supporter of the Kennedy Center, the students were chosen to demonstrate their talents in front of other collegiate-level performing arts students. Patrinos added that Rolles has a direct connection to the Kennedy Center and was able to help the students with their trip to Los Angeles.
Both Enos and Brewer have a long history of stage experience. Enos has been acting since she was in the third grade, while Brewer has been involved with theater since his junior year of high school at St. Louis School. At Chaminade, the two students have worked alongside one another in “Almost, Maine,” which debuted in December 2013.
Enos and Brewer will be in Los Angeles to reprise their roles in “Almost, Maine” for the audition part of the festival, but Paeste will be there for the stage management portion.
“I’m just glad that I’m going,” said Paeste, who has been a stage manager for the Chaminade productions since last semester. “I’m not sure what I have to do, but I’m also going out there to assist the actors for their scene work.”
Patrino hopes that the regional festival will acknowledge Chaminade University for its theater department.
“It’s just a really good opportunity for our students to participate in a regional and national level because we’ve never done that before,” Patrino said. “It’s gonna be a good time. We’re definitely looking forward to it.”