UNL has earned a Standing Ovation Award from the Educational Theatre Association.
The award will be presented to Paul Steger, director of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, June 28 during the International Thespian Festival’s Saturday showcase.
“When we developed the relationship between our two organizations, we were looking for a venue for our largest event,” said Julie Woffington, executive director of the Educational Theatre Association. “However, the relationship between our two organizations has yielded far more than that. Your team has become our trusted partner.”
The award was developed to recognize a corporation or organization that makes significant contributions to the association in supporting its mission of “shaping lives through theatre education.”
Previous recipients of the Standing Ovation Award include Samuel French, Broadway Cares-Equity Fights AIDS, Music Theatre International, Procter & Gamble Productions and the Bravo Network.
“I am quite surprised and humbled by this award,” Steger said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be recognized for having that kind of commitment to dramatic study and theatre study and to be able to host the thespian festival.”
Steger said UNL is the oldest dramatic training program at a land-grant institution in this country.
UNL has also hosted the International Thespian Festival since 1995.
The 2014 festival is June 23-28. More than 2,800 students and teachers will converge for the weeklong celebration of theatre that includes performances, workshops, master classes and auditions for college admission. The event also hosts a handful of shows put on by high school theatre troupes.
“It’s a great boon for us to have that many students here,” Steger said. “It opens their eyes to what they might be able to do.”
Steger said individuals from the best training programs in the county come to UNL to watch these kids perform.
UNL also offers many amenities for the festival. Participants stay in UNL’s residence halls and eat in campus dining halls. Classroom and workshop space is provided in UNL buildings, including the Temple Building, Westbrook Music Building and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
“There are so many partners across campus that work with us on it, including University Housing, the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the Glenn Korff School of Music, Facilities and Planning,” Steger said.
In January, UNL and the International Thespian Festival renewed their agreement to ensure that the university will host the annual event through 2019.
