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Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

(l-r) Hunter Thore, Andrea Gilkey and Daryl Walker will perform in “A Lesson Before Dying” Feb. 3-4 at ASU. All three have been selected to audition for the Irene Ryan Scholarship during the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival’s Regional Festival.

‘A Lesson Before Dying’ entered in ACT festival
Production yields placement in competition, three nominated for prestigious scholarship

Janelle Silverman - Entertainment Beat

Dedication, determination and hard work have paid off for three Appalachian State University theater students preparing to compete against other talented students across the country.

Andrea Gilkey, Hunter Thore and Daryl Walker, all theater majors at Appalachian and cast members of this year’s production of “A Lesson Before Dying,” have been selected to audition for the Irene Ryan Scholarship during the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival’s Regional Festival.

The Irene Ryan Scholarship has been in existence since 1972. It is sponsored by the Irene Foundation of Encino, Calif., made possible by the donations of the late Irene Ryan, known for her work as Granny in “The Beverly Hillbillies,” according to the Los Angeles City College homepage.

The production “A Lesson Before Dying” was also selected to be presented at this year’s theater festival, which will be held Feb. 5-10 at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C.

The play was chosen to advance after being selected as one of the top six programs from the American College Theater Festival, which was held at Meredith College last semester.

The judges who observed the American College Theater Festival may nominate any actor or actress from any production to audition for the Irene Ryan Scholarship, and the director of each school is permitted one nomination from their own production.

This year, Joel Williams, the director of “A Lesson Before Dying,” nominated Daryl Walker, who plays Jefferson, the main character of the play.

However, as the play was presented in front of the judges last fall, two more cast members, Gilkey and Thore, were selected to audition as well.

“It is very unusual to have three [actors] from one show,” said Williams. The judges do not have to nominate anyone for the award if they do not see fit, said Thore.

All three cast members spent many hours perfecting their character’s voices and presentation, said the actors.

Gilkey, who plays Miss Emma in the production, was required to “age” 40 years, while Thore had to learn a Cajun dialect.

“I had no idea what to do at all when they told me to do a Cajun
accent during the audition,” said Thore. “It ended up sounding Southern.”

“The majority of the cast comes from the North,” said Gilkey. Therefore, it was hard for the cast to reach the correct accents and voice presentations.

Thore found it helpful to listen to Cajun tapes, while Walker used movies as his guide.

The cast members will audition for the scholarship during the KC/ACTF, with a five-minute monologue or scene of their choice on Feb. 6, the day before the cast will present “A Lesson Before Dying.”
Two students will be selected out of all the nominees, who will win a $500 scholarship and go onto the national competition where one student will be chosen, said the actors.

Only two productions will be chosen at the KC/ACTF to go on to the national level. There are eight other regions across the country that will also send their top performances to the national competition.

“There will be a lot of exposure for everyone here since a lot of casting directors go to watch,” said Walker about the upcoming regional festival.

The cast of “A Lesson Before Dying” also includes Appalachian State students Lyndsay Cox, Kirk Dickens, Joriah Wade and Jay Jay Johnson, who have also worked hard to make the play a success.

The cast will perform an encore presentation of “A Lesson Before Dying” Sunday and Monday evenings at 8 p.m. in Valborg Theatre.

The encore performances will allow those who did not get to see the show last semester a chance to see it and will get the cast used to being in front of an audience, said Thore. “It will be a second chance for everybody.”