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Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu
CANYON, Texas — Their shows may have been staged virtually, but the accolades were handed out in person at the West Texas A&M University theater department’s annual Branding Iron Theatre Awards.
Theater students celebrated the end of a challenging academic year with a May 1 outdoor gathering on the south lawn of the Old Education Building. Awards recognized cast and crew of three of the department’s productions, in addition to general special achievement awards.
“This has been an unprecedented year, and our students have more than met the challenge,” said Callie Hisek, the Royal R. Brantley Professor of Theatre. “In the midst of everything thrown at them, they have excelled at continuing their education and putting on shows — shows that we didn’t know how we were going to do until the start of the school year, in formats they had never worked in, with rehearsal on Zoom or in masks while socially distancing.
“So much of what we did this year challenged us as a program, and the BIT Awards are a time when we can acknowledge all the hard work that was done,” Hisek said. “While the awards are sad because we are officially saying the season has come to an end and saying goodbye to our graduating seniors, this year was also a celebration.”
Award winners were chosen by faculty members.
Winners included:
- Best Actress: Coco Cummings Dietz, a junior musical theater major from Tahoka, for “Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play”
- Best Actor: Jared Bartley, a junior acting major from McLean, for “Caucasian Chalk Circle”
- Best Supporting Actress: Sophia Johnson, a senior acting major from Lubbock, for “Phaedra”
- Best Supporting Actor: Jalen Barrera, a junior acting major from New Deal, for “Phaedra”
- Best Featured Actress: Bella Walker, a junior acting major from McKinney, for “Caucasian Chalk Circle”
- Best Featured Actor: Ethan Chase, a junior acting major from Amarillo, for “Caucasian Chalk Circle”
- Best Scenic Design: Caitlynn Sandoval, a senior design and technology major from San Antonio, for “[title of show]”
- Best Properties Design: Ashley Peikert, a junior theater education major from Lubbock, for “Vintage Hitchcock”
- Best Lighting Design: Maria Galles, a junior design and technology major from Plano, for “Phaedra”
- Best Costume Design: Cydnee Augesen, a senior design and technology major from Lubbock, for “Phaedra”
- Best Sound Design: Zane Wells, a junior acting major from Amarillo, for “Caucasian Chalk Circle”
- Best Hair and Makeup Design: Augesen, for “Phaedra”
- Best Stage Management: Devon Patch, a senior design and technology major from Trinidad, for “Caucasian Chalk Circle”
Special awards included:
- New Theatre Buff Award: Jewel Schonhoff, a freshman musical theatre major from Little Elm
- Treston Johnson Spirit Award: Jalen Barrera
- Achievement in Design and Technology: Devon Patch
- Achievement in Theatre Education: Benjamin Nitschmann, a senior theater education major from Moorpark, Calif.
- Achievement in Musical Theatre: Anna Holmes, a senior musical theater major from Lubbock
- Achievement in Acting: Sophia Johnson
- Overall Achievement Award: Caitlynn Sandoval
A commitment to the arts is a key component of the University’s long-term plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
About West Texas A&M University
WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. With enrollment of more than 10,000, WT offers 60 undergraduate degree programs, 40 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 15 men’s and women’s athletics programs.
—WTAMU—