More than 3,700 students from across the country and beyond have gathered at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus this week as the Thespian Festival returned for another year.
Delegates took up residence on June 22, and will remain on campus through June 27. Their week has featured non-stop theater, with workshops, performances, college interviews, auditions and more.
“For over two decades, the most talented young people in the world have been coming to Lincoln to perform, learn and perfect their crafts,” said Bill Stephan, executive director of the Lied. “Every year we have nationally touring artists tell us that they remember coming to Lincoln as high school students for the festival.”
The festival opened Monday with “The Music of Menken: Audrey, Ariel, Aladdin … and Alan! An Evening with Alan Menken,” a tribute to one of the most celebrated composers of stage and screen. The performance featured Broadway professionals working with a National Thespian Company of 20 student actors and 11 student technicians from 20 states and Dubai. Though scheduling conflicts with his upcoming film “Beauty and the Beast” prevented his attendance, Menken joined the project through a special video interview from his home. Academy and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline served as the evening’s host and narrator.
The festival is hosting 11 schools from 10 states on its main stages in the Lied Center and Kimball Recital Hall. The professional-quality theater productions include “The Little Mermaid,” “Xanadu,” “Hello! My Baby” and “White Christmas.”
Technologically oriented festival delegates who enjoy behind-the-scenes work can watch techies at their best during the Tech Challenge – a daylong competition at the festival that allows thespians to demonstrate their technical theater skills.
The festival’s Freestyle Theatre is an open venue where performers can share their talents without categories or constraints. The offerings presented in UNL’s Johnny Carson Theatre include stand-up comedians, magicians, dance routines and cabaret. The Chapter Select Showcase will feature high-caliber productions of one-act plays in the Johnny Carson Theatre and Howell Theatre.
Other events include Thespian Playworks and Musicalworks, student writing programs that give the students a chance to see their work come to life onstage; and “Festival’s Got Talent,” a student talent show.
For more information on the festival or to view the program, visit https://www.schooltheatre.org/thespianfestival2015.
