Top Student Actors, Designers Honored at WT Theatre Banquet

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

Top Student Actors, Designers Honored at WT Theatre Banquet

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University Theatre  closed out its 2024-2025 season by honoring outstanding students at the annual Branding Iron Theatre Awards.

Several students were honored for their work on the program’s four stage productions over the last academic year.

“While we as faculty give out these recognitions to our students, it is really a great time to congratulate everyone on their works not just on productions but for their work in the classroom and to celebrate an incredible season,” said Callie Hisek, WT’s Royal R. Brantley Professor of Theatre Studies and theatre program coordinator.

Top BIT Awards were won by Angelica Pantoja, a senior theatre major from Lubbock, Overall Achievement Award; Kyndal Knapp, a senior theatre major from Pampa, Achievement in Acting Award; Peyton Hastings, a senior theatre major from Sundown, Achievement in Musical Theatre Award; and Rachel House, a senior theatre major from The Colony, Achievement in Design and Technology Award.

Branda Barnett, a sophomore theatre major from Wink, won the New Theatre Buff Award.

Makenzie Cohan, a sophomore theatre major from Ropesville, won the Treston Johnson Spirit Award.

Photo:Acting and design winners for WT Theatre's Branding Iron Theatre Awards include, front from left, Tucker McCann, lead performer; Kyndal Knapp, lead performer; Isabella Bailey, supporting performer; Riley Harbour, stage manager; Rachel House, lighting design, and, back from left, Sam Fry, properties design; Nolan Adams, sound design; Ty Thompson, featured performer; Ray Barber, supporting performer; and Makenzie Cohan, featured performer.

Best lead performers were Tucker McCann, a junior theatre major from San Angelo, as Artemisia and Prudenzia Figlia in “Artemisia,” and Knapp as Artemisia Madre in “Artemisia.”

Best supporting performers were Isabella Bailey, a junior musical theatre major from Little Elm, as the Red Cross nurse and Queen of Hearts in “Alice by Heart,” and Ray Barber, a senior musical theatre major from Conroe, as Dr. Butridge, the King of Hearts, the Jabberwock and the Mock Turtle in “Alice by Heart.”

Best featured performers were Ty Thompson, a senior theatre major from Fort Worth, as Dodgey, the Duchess and the Mock Mock Mock Turtle in “Alice by Heart,” and Cohan as Prudenzia Madre and the Grand Duchess Christina of Lorraine in “Artemisia.”

Design awards went to Riley Harbour, a senior theatre major from Amarillo, for best production stage manager for “Artemisia”; Dani Collins, a junior theatre major from Lubbock, for best hair and makeup for “Artemisia”; House for best lighting design for “Artemisia”; Nolan Adams, a sophomore theatre education major from Dumas, for best sound design for “Artemisia”; and Sam Fry, a senior theatre major from Canadian, for best properties design for “The Gamester.”

Additionally, WT Theatre also scored several regional commendations from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

WT’s February production of “Artemisia” garnered several commendations at the regional level: Knapp for Excellence in Character Development; John Landon, professor of theatre, for Excellence in Scenic Design; House for Excellence in Lighting Design; Adams for Excellence in Sound Design; Pantoja for Excellence in Assistant Director; Harbour for Excellence in Stage Management; and Makayla Puryear, a junior theatre major from Lubbock, for Excellence in Dramaturgy.

Cohan and McCann both earned Irene Ryan acting nominations. They’ll take part in Irene Ryan Scholarship auditions in February in Abilene at the Region 6 festival.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country. According to its website, it “has given more than 400,000 college theater students the opportunity to have their work critiqued, improve their dramatic skills, and receive national recognition for excellence.”

WT Theatre’s 2025-2026 season will feature the drama “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5; the family musical “A Year with Frog & Toad” from Oct. 31 to Nov. 9; the literary adaptation “Pride and Prejudice” from Feb. 6 to 15; and the new musical “Freaky Friday” from April 10 to 19.

Fostering an appreciation of the arts and rewarding, retaining and recruiting the best students are key components of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World .

That plan is fueled by the historic  One West  comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $165 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree 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 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Top photo: Winners at the annual West Texas A&M University Theatre Branding Iron Theatre Awards include, from left, Peyton Hastings, Achievement in Musical Theatre; Angelica Pantoja, Overall Achievement Award; Kyndal Knapp, Achievement in Acting; Makenzie Cohan, Treston Johnson Spirit Award; Branda Barnett, New Theatre Buff Award; and Rachel House, Achievement in Design and Technology.

—WT—