Leaving it all off the stage

With hunger to thrive despite their dreary surroundings, the story of Sam, Rose and Avery in The Flick becomes an award-winning production for the TAMUK Theater Department. Actors Robin Machuca, Lexi LaCour and Etta Enow all earned recognition for their hard work and talent during last weekend’s performance of The Flick. Caroline Dietz was also recognized for her makeup design in the play.

A representative of Kennedy Center American College (KCACTF) visited The Flick, Saturday afternoon and awarded several students for their outstanding performance. The cast and crew walked out with two Irene Ryan Acting awards, two Meritorious Achievement for Performance Awards, Makeup Design and Scene Design recognitions.

Enow and Machuca were recognized for their performance with the Irene Ryan Acting Award. This recognition is awarded to students looking to pursue their education and provides honor and credibility for award receivers.

“After receiving the award, I felt so humbled and honored. There’s a saying in theater, ‘The theater doesn’t owe you anything,’ which is true hence why I was so surprised when I was awarded with an Irene Ryan…This achievement symbolizes my growth as an actress, it also shows how much I’ve matured throughout my time here in TAMUK Theater,” Enow, who plays Avery in The Flick, said.

LaCour earned a Meritorious Achievement for Performance for her excellence in the production. LaCour played the role of Rose, a projectionist in a theater in Massachusetts. Creativity was the star of the show, as it also earned an award for scene and makeup design. The cast also received the Meritorious Achievement for Performance award in the category of Ensemble Actors.  “I was very happy about it, mostly because of how simple the idea came up…When we were jumbling around ideas for the play and The Flick came up [I thought] ‘Oh yeah, you can just flip it, just have the show take place in the audience instead of it on stage, and have the audience sit on stage.’ [This award] symbolizes my accountability as an actor in terms of the Irene…it’s just a lovely opportunity to be able participate in KCACTF,” Robin Machuca, who plays Sam in The Flick, said.

KCACTF is a theater festival, in which students throughout America gain an opportunity to showcase their acting and creative talents. 

 “Theatre Festival and the all-student production got a great response, with two Irene Ryan Acting awards. The play performed this past weekend in the Little Theatre. They represented out department very well!” Director of Theater Activities, Corey Ranson, said.