“Theatre is My Sport”: The 2nd Annual Mountain Maryland Theatre Festival

The 2nd Annual Mountain Maryland Theatre Festival was held at Frostburg State University from Jan. 10 through 11. The theme of the event, “Theatre is My Sport” was in recognition of the commitment, skill, and perseverance that it takes to be a theatre artist. 

The program featured a diverse lineup of events for theatre artists in acting, design and technology, stage management, professional development, and dance. Notable FSU alumni returned to offer professional workshops, a keynote address, and to adjudicate student auditions. Student participants represented nine middle and high schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

The weekend kicked off with a Q & A workshop entitled “You Don’t Need Magic” with FSU alumni Jennifer Bonner. Bonner was born and raised in nearby Mount Savage, Maryland and, after graduating from FSU, continued her studies with the Walt Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida. Since then, she has continued to work as a Jedi Master at Disney World, a Living Fountain and Christmas Pageant Queen at Sea World, and is featured in many national commercials and on the Home Shopping Network. 

Students were given the opportunity to ask Bonner about working for Disney, what it’s like in the professional acting world, and how her experiences at Frostburg shaped her career path. “My favorite role of all time was in South Pacific at Frostburg State University,” said Bonner. 

She warned students about the struggles and lulls she has faced in her career, as well. “You have to not be able to live without theatre. Otherwise you should do something else because this career is hard. That said, I’ve tried to stop theatre and I can’t,” she concluded. 

Friday evening included a Tech Olympics competition and a series of short tech workshops taught by current FSU faculty members Michele Labar, Aaron Bittner, Gordon Duguid, and Matthew “George” Georgeson.

A Tech Talk was also offered by Broadway and Television Designer Justin Seward and Disney Parks Live Entertainment’s Pyrotechnics and Special Effects Supervisor Joshua Duguid. Both Seward and Duguid are FSU alumni. 

On Saturday morning, students were given the opportunity to have their prepared monologues and songs adjudicated by FSU faculty and local professional directors. Besides earning valuable critiques, this process determined the winners of the acting and singing awards given at the conclusion of the festival. 

Most of Saturday was devoted to professional workshops, including Athlete for the Stage, Entrances and Exits, and Performing with Puppets. 

Austin Hueg, a 2017 alumni of the Department of Theatre and Dance, assisted with several workshops throughout the weekend. He says that the festival is important because it “gets your mind expanding on all that theatre is. It kickstarts a student’s brain into seeking out education. It helps to answer the questions. It reminds us that the constant pursuit is what leads to growth.” 

Ava Breighner, a sophomore at Mountain Ridge High School, remarked that Hueg’s workshop, How to Rehearse for Rehearsal was particularly useful. “This was my favorite because it was informative for the professional world. I received advice I’ve never heard before and I feel like I understand how to navigate networking now.” 

Besides technical, professional development, and improvisation workshops, the festival also featured two dance workshops taught by Kimberli Rowley, one of the Artistic Directors of the Cumberland Theatre, and Danny Durr, an FSU alumni who now lives and works in New York City. 

McClairen Eisenhour, Emily Snyder, and Andrew Watkins, all students of Allegany High School, said the dance workshops were among their favorites. “It’s just great to have someone really critique my audition and give feedback that will help me in the future,” said Snyder.

Saturday also featured a keynote speech by Justin Seward, a 2002 FSU alumni. Seward has worked for the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston as an Assistant Props Master since 2007 and received a Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2013. 

Mairzy Yost-Rushton remarked that, “the reason Justin is the keynote speaker is because he found the love and joy for this art and that’s what I want for all of you [students].” 

Seward spoke about his many career accomplishments and struggles. A Cumberland native, Seward came to Frostburg to study communications before realizing his true passion for theatre. “When I realized all that I could do here, I decided to try everything.” 

Seward worked as a director, technical designer, and actor during his time at FSU. 

At the conclusion of the festival, awards were given in acting, singing, and technology and several troupes performed pieces from their audition adjudications and upcoming productions. First place in singing when to Emily Snyder of Allegany High School. First place in acting was awarded to Brendan McCabe a homeschooled student from Cumberland, Md. Ava Brieghner received a first place award for monologue and song performance. A complete list of awards can be found here: 2020 Awards List

Many of the students who attended MMTF also attended last year’s inaugural festival. 

Kendal Johnson, a senior at Allegany High School, said, “I came back because all of the teaching artists have been very honest about working in a professional setting.”

Brian Records also attended last year’s festival as a senior at Allegany High School. Now, Records is a freshman in the Department of Theatre and Dance and credits the festival with helping him make the decision. 

“The festival was a major factor in my final decision, not only to attend FSU, but to become a theatre major,” said Records, “just realizing that people with so much knowledge and passion for the art would come to teach a bunch of middle and high school students showed exactly how the department functioned. “

Looking back, Records said that “the festival really opened my eyes to how big the world of theatre was. It was incredible to be around such talented mentors and people that had the same passion that I did.”

Records’ decision was reaffirmed when he started classes in the fall, “the department has been so welcoming, both students and teachers, of me and my fellow freshman colleagues. I initially felt that sense of welcoming at the theatre festival, and it made me want to come back.” 

The Mountain Maryland Theatre Festival is the brainchild of Nicole Mattis and Mairzy Yost-Rushton, but the entire department collaborated on the project. “We started this festival because there’s not a thespian festival that serves rural Maryland. There is one downstate, but for many reasons, local students can’t make the trip,” said Darrell Rushton, a faculty member of the department.

The Maryland State Thespian Festival was also held from Jan. 10 to 11 at Towson University. The registration, t-shirt, and adjudication costs for that festival total over $130 compared to the $40 registration cost for the Mountain Maryland Theatre Festival.

Nicole Mattis, Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance says that advocacy and development of young theatre artists and theatre programs is an important objective of the MMTF.

“We want to engage high school and middle school students and teachers in Allegany and Garrett Counties, and border regions, by providing them with development and training during the MMTF.” The festival further supports and promotes regional arts programs and aims to “create arts opportunities for young people,” says Mattis.

One of the invited guests to the festival was Frostburg’s Vice President of Enrollment Management, Ms. Arlene Cash. After visiting with students and sitting in on workshops, Cash said that the festival showcased FSU in a positive light. “Local students think they have to go to far away colleges to do great things, but then they come and see what we have here at Frostburg,” says Cash. “These students are able to see our state-of-the-art facilities and interact with our excellent faculty, and if they didn’t know about Frostburg before, they do now.” 

For Lillian McKenzie, a senior at Allegany High School, she said the festival helped to seal the deal on her college decision. “I am definitely coming to Frostburg next year,” she says. 

Other visiting artists and workshop instructors included FSU alumni Bill Dennison, Obie Award winning actress Jessica Dukes, puppet master Dr. Gerry Snelson, and local musician, actor, and director Chris McCabe. Erica Breighner, the department’s Program Management Specialist, was essential in the execution of the festival, and financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and FSU Foundation, Inc. made the project possible.