Congratulations on being an Irene Ryan Scholarship Nominee! The information and links below will help you register and prepare for your audition.

REGISTRATION

Please read the registration form carefully at the links below, as some of the requirements have changed.

QUESTIONS/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Contact the Irene Ryan Coordinators Heidi (vogelh@wabash.edu) or Kelli (kelli_crump@yahoo.com).

ELIGIBILITY

Any student actor in any Region 3 school is eligible to participate. Nominations are by KCACTF regional respondents, faculty from the participating schools, or self-nomination.

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS:

• 16 regional festival awards of $500
• 2 national festival awards of $3500 presented in Washington, D.C.

The list of awards and opportunities associated with the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions at the national festival continues to expand each year making this one of the most exciting educational and artistic opportunities for student actors in the country.

Recent awards made at the national festival include fellowships with these prestigious partners:

• Society of American Fight Directors’ National Stage Combat Workshop
• Williamstown Theatre Festival Fellowship for outstanding minority candidates
• KCACTF National Partners Classical Acting Award
• Dramatists Guild Award for Excellence in a Performance from a New Play or Musical
• Mark Twain Prize for Comic Performance
• Margolis Method Summer Intensive in Minneapolis
• Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre and Mad River Festival
• Sundance Theatre Laboratory

Other awards may be made at the regional level. Students and coaches are encouraged to consult their regional chair or regional Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions Coordinator for more information on regional awards.

Rules

For our 2024 Festival, Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions will consist of two monologues and one scene. There should be no internal edits for any of the selections. Nominees are encouraged to find scripts from a variety of sources (new scripts, contact playwrights, etc…).

Specifically:

• Preliminary Round: Two monologues, time limit of three minutes seconds total (recorded; submission via private YouTube link).
• Semi-Final Round: One monologue (from preliminary round) and one scene, time limit of 5 minutes total.
• Final Round: 2 contrasting* monologues from Preliminary Round and one scene, time limit of 6 minutes total.

*The “contrasting” may consist of contemporary/classical, style, character type, etc…

For all 3 rounds: Be sure to introduce yourself (DO NOT IDENTIFY YOUR SCHOOL OR STATE AFFILIATION), and introduce your selections. The introduction/slate is not counted towards the total time limit.

Evaluation Criteria

Auditions will be evaluated using the following criteria at every level of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions and are of particular importance in the regional preliminary round:

• Ability to urgently pursue strong, clear objectives.
• Ability to make varied, specific, and bold acting choices.
• Mastery of an expressive and flexible vocal and physical instrument.
• Demonstration of a facility with language and a clear understanding of the text.

Given the above criteria, actors are strongly encouraged to select and prepare material for auditions that will demonstrate the above competencies and to avoid material designed to demonstrate the actor’s cleverness as an end in and of itself.

Questions/Additional Information

Contact the Irene Ryan Coordinators Heidi (vogelh@wabash.edu) or Amy Budd (albudd@goshen.edu).

COMPLETE THE ONLINE FORM TO REGISTER

Nominees MUST complete the online Irene Ryan Registration Form by December 20, 2021 OR YOU MAY NOT PARTICIPATE. All nominees must also be registered for the festival. There is no additional fee for participating in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Audition. By submitting the Ryan Registration Form, you affirm that you were a college student at the time of your Ryan nomination.

GET FEEDBACK

The best part of the Ryan process is the opportunity to grow and learn from the experience. Regional faculty respondents will provide each student individual feedback after the preliminary round, via scheduled zoom sessions prior to the first day of the festival, and semi-final and final round selectors will give responses, as well.

RECEIVE A SCHOLARSHIP

The Irene Ryan Foundation awards sixteen regional and two national scholarships annually. One nominee from every region will be invited to the national festival and the nominee will receive a $500 scholarship. The runner-up in each region will receive a $500 scholarship, but will not attend the national festival to audition for the national scholarship. Students and coaches are encouraged to consult their regional chair or regional Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions Coordinator for information on other regional awards. The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships are, indeed, scholarships; so the Foundation disburses the award through a school designated by the winner, to pay tuition and fees for further education, not necessarily limited to theatre arts. Feel free to contact us with questions regarding the Ryans. We look forward to seeing you in January 2024!

WATCH THE RYANS

Faculty members and students who have paid their Festival registration fee may observe the virtual final round of the Ryans.

AND! Break a leg Ryan nominees and partners!!!

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