2400 students attend fourth annual Thespian festival
■ High school gathering
boasts largest attendance
of any University of
Nebraska-Lincoln summer
conference.
By Sean McCarthy
Staff Reporter
Students used to performing in
the humble confines of high school
auditoriums will have to adjust to the
packed audiences who will view their
shows at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts.
A change of scenery will be in
store for students from across the
nations this week, as they come to the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a
nationwide thespian festival.
Aspiring actors, dancers and
singers will have an entire week to
shag their skills for auditions, work
shops and scholarship offers. The fes
tival draws about 2,400 students from
288 schools across the nation, as well
as Canada and New Zealand. This
will be the fourth year the festival has
been held at UNL.
From June 23-27, students will
get a chance to learn everything from
singing in Broadway musicals to
street performing. They will also get
a chance to sample dorm living,
attend workshops in classrooms and
perform at the Howell Theater,
Kimball Recital Hall and the Lied
Center.
Michael Hager, assistant director
of housing for administration, said
the festival was the largest conference
UNL will host this summer.
“It also is the one with the fewest
problems,” he said. “It’s a very well
organized and supervised group.”
During their stay, students will fill
Harper-Schramm-Smith, Cather,
Pound, Neidhardt, Abel and Sandoz
residence halls. Hager said some
families will be staying in hotels
while their sons and daughters are at
the festival. Along with the families,
musicians from out of the state will
also be taking up lodging.
“It’s a good economic impact for
the city,” Hager said.
Bob Vaughn, director of opera
tions at the Lied Center, said prepar
ing for the festival has become easier
each year. That doesn’t mean the
challenge of accommodating a
packed house for five consecutive
nights isn’t there, he said.
“We need to be prepared for any
situation that might occur,” Vaughn
said, “The Educational Theater
Association has the system down to a
‘T’ when it comes to emergencies.”
Vaughn said the Lied production
staff would be on hand to see if the
stage designs for all of the plays and
musicals would comply with the safe
ty regulations. His biggest challenge,
however, would be accommodating
and organizing the staffing schedules
to comply with the heavy rotation of
SCOTT MCCLURG/DN
THESPIAN ADAM KRAFT prepares for the Aurora Colorado, Eagle Crest High School’s production of “CHESS,”
Wednesday evening at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Kraft, joins over 2,400 other high school students from
39 states and 3 countries in the 1998 Thespian Festival.
shows the Lied Center will get for the
next few days. The task is not without
rewards, Vaughn said.
“Seeing students really deriving
the joy from this art form makes the
drudgery worthwhile,” Vaughn said.
“This is the payoff.”
On the cover
JAMES BUTLER, a dealer for Harvey’s Casino & Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa
deals a hand for Lloyd Hoban of Mifflinburg, Pa., and other customers of
Harvey’s.
Photo by Mike Warren
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