Katy Visual And Performing Arts Center To Appear At National Theatre Festival

Answers by Tom Topor at Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center. photo by Linda M. Lee

The Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center from Katy, Texas is proud to announce that its production of Answers by Tom Topor has won the honor of performing at AACTFest 2017, the National Community Theatre Festival, in Rochester, Minnesota, June 26-July 1.

The journey to the National Festival began in March when the production won the Texas State AACTFest 2017 in Lewisville.  The production then moved on to Lafayette, Louisiana for the Region VI AACTFest Festival in April.  AACT Region VI includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to winning the Region VI Festival, the production was honored with Festival Adjudicator Awards for Excellence in Direction (Joshua Schorejs), Excellence in Acting (Gregory Magyar) and Excellence in Set Design.

Executive Artistic Director Gregory Magyar felt it was important for the organization to participate in AACTFest and Texas Nonprofit Theatres. Magyar said, “after experiencing the festival in Washington I knew that KVPAC would benefit tremendously from being a part of that community. The networking and support from our fellow theatres is a tremendous asset, and the competitive aspect only pushes us to get better at what we do.”

AACTFest2017 marks KVPAC’s third appearance in the festival cycle, after having great success in 2015 with their production of On the Road With Hank the Horse, which advanced all the way to the Region VI competition. Their 2015 production garnered multiple acting awards for all four cast members, awards for direction and the Audience Favorite award at the State level.

AACTFest 2017 is the culmination of a two-year cycle of state and regional theatre AACT festivals, and will feature twelve community theatre productions from across the United States and the U.S. Military Overseas that received top honors in their respective state and regional festivals. These winners represent the best community theatre America has to offer.  Performances will start on Tuesday, June 27 in Rochester Civic Theatre and additional activities will be offered in the adjacent Mayo Civic Center in downtown Rochester.  The AACTFest 2017 National Festival includes a theatre management conference, a youth leadership conference and youth festival, educational workshops, top vendor displays, the design exhibition and competition, a new monologue competition, social events, sightseeing, and networking opportunities, all ending with a festival awards presentation.

AACTFest is a celebration of theatre and a learning experience for those who take part. Registration and performance tickets are available to all. Join in the energy and excitement of AACTFest 2017!

Registration, schedule, and more information is available at aact.org/17.

AACT provides networking, resources, and support for America’s theatres. AACT represents the interests of more than 7,000 theatres across the United States and its territories, as well as theatre companies with the U.S. Armed Services overseas.