Wow, what an amazing year! Where to start? Let’s see… we began this season with the Grand Opening of the newly renovated Thompson Hall. Only a handful of the current APO members and theatre participants can recall the working conditions in ‘the old Thompson,’ me being one of them. The new theatre and crafts spaces are bright and inviting, sparking creativity in every corner; they are a vast improvement from the old facilities.
Alpha Psi Omega is a national honorary dramatic fraternity whose mission is to serve the theatre in all of its endeavors. On top of acting in, and teching for, the 10 University Theatre productions each year, APO members help with check-in for show auditions, work all of the load-ins & strikes, staff the concession stand for University Theatre and Centerstage performances, and host the annual winter holiday party
, among other things. University Theatre participants are invited to join APO after a few semesters of consistent contribution and are required to maintain active participation in servicing the theatre above and beyond the average student. APO brothers pride themselves on the diversity in their majors and interests, ranging from which allow us to be more productive in all of our endeavors.
APO stayed very busy this year! We started the semester by participating in the annual Brickyard Fair the first week of classes. Several members spent the day spreading general information about University Theatre, like how to become involved and where to get tickets. Several times throughout the year APO volunteers its time and resources to help University Theatre with marketing projects. One of the most enjoyable and memorable marketing events this year was when we painted the Free Expression Tunnel for Macbeth
. Sadly, Google painted over a majority of our paint before morning arrived, but we definitely had [messy] fun slinging paint on the walls to look like blood!! [I mean, come on, it is a play with several murders...]
This spring APO participated in two large service projects sponsored by NCSU, Service Raleigh and Relay-for-Life. During Service Raleigh we volunteered with Trees Across Raleigh and planted trees along the streets near the Boys & Girls Club of Raleigh and St. Augustine’s College.
We got out there bright and early, were served breakfast, heard the Mayor speak on the project’s importance, and spent a few hours planting trees with the coolest little kid, Zeke, a Boys Club of Wake Forest member. We loved getting down and dirty in the soil and mulch but we worked up a pretty severe appetite, so the best part of the day was probably the barbeque sandwiches we were served for lunch.
APO spent all of spring semester raising money for Relay-for-Life. We raised close to $1,500 from personal donations of APO friends and families, the Macbeth audience choice award collections, payments for face painting at the event, and contributions from the Miss Relay Pageant. Three of our brothers dressed up for the Miss Relay Pageant, a drag show that happens around midnight during the event. I know they enjoyed raising money, but I believe their stylists had more fun making them over into beau… err… ladies!
The event that APO looks forward to the most each year is, without a doubt, Hammy’s. Hammy’s is University Theatre’s end-of-the-year awards ceremony that is produced entirely by the APO brothers. We write and direct the parody skits, design and send out all of the marketing information, order the delicious food, plan all of the decorations, make all of the piggy awards, set everything up on the day of and, most importantly, enjoy an evening with friends.
This year we choose the theme of Green Eggs & Ham and APO’s Vice President Maddison Harris decorated the theatre with wonderful Dr. Seuss decorations. My pride and joy were the green deviled eggs. The evening was graced with the presence of several VIPs from campus, including Alex Miller, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. Tom Stafford, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and Kelly Hook, our Student Body President-elect, among others. Several season subscribers also took a night out of their busy lives to mingle with the students on this very special evening.
Laura-Nelle Parnell and Marielle Kissick entertained everyone with their witty banter between each of the skits as our emcees. Hammy’s also gives us the opportunity to recognize all of our graduating members.
See the end of this post for a complete listing of Hammy’s award winners.
APO was excited to induct twelve new members this season: Tiffany Alemany, Morgan Grail, Robert Steinberg, and Jillian Varner in the fall semester and Antrone Burke, Kelvin Carter, Liz Cervantes, Alex Donne, Alyssa Johnson, Brittany Patterson, Trameeka Reid, and Liz Smith in the spring.
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2010 Hammy’s Award Winners -
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARDS:
MALE CAMEO ROLE, Stuart Heinrich as Guiseppe Bonno in ‘Amadeus’
& Zac Schnell as Cinderella’s Father in ‘Into the Woods’
FEMALE CAMEO ROLE, Taylor Cox as Lady MacDuff in ‘Macbeth’
MALE ENSEMBLE ROLE, Paul Brothers as Witch #1 in ‘Macbeth’
FEMALE ENSEMBLE ROLE, Betsy Newsome as Witch #3 in ‘Macbeth’
MALE SUPPORTING ROLE, Tyler Haggard as MacDuff in ‘Macbeth’
FEMALE SUPPORTING ROLE, Brittany Patterson as Rapunzel in ‘Into the Woods’
& Megan Bridges as Milky White in ‘Into the Woods’
MALE LEAD ROLE, George Kaiser as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in ‘Amadeus’
FEMALE LEAD ROLE, Laura-Nelle Parnell as the Witch in ‘Into the Woods’
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARDS:
MAKEUP & COSTUMING, Emily Plonski for ‘Into the Woods’
LIGHTs & SOUND, Liz Smith as Audio Assistant for ‘Into the Woods’
& Trameeka Reid as Light Board Operator for ‘Macbeth’
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, Morgan Grail for ‘Into the Woods’
STAGE MANAGER, Casey Watkins for ‘Amadeus’ and ‘Into the Woods’
