EOU theatre student receives Kennedy Center National Selection Committee Award

Published: July 2, 2004

Stephan Zacharias

by C.J. Gish
Media and publication writer
University Advancement
541-962-3585 / fax 541-962-3680

EOU theatre student Stephan Zacharias, a junior from Monmouth, received a prestigious acating award from the Kennedy Center recently.

La Grande – From being tricked into doing his first play to receiving a Kennedy Center National Selection Committee Award, Eastern Oregon University theatre student Stephan Zacharias has come a long way in his acting career.

The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival National Selection Committee recently announced its list of individual and ensemble commendations for its 36th Annual Festival and Zacharias, of Monmouth, received a KC/ACTF National Selection Award for achievement in his performance in the play “Hole in the Sky.” The EOU theatre department presented “Hole In the Sky” at the ACTF/Northwest Regional Drama Conference at the University of Idaho in February. Zacharias was not an original member of the cast, but was asked to perform a small role in the play by EOU theatre professor Ken Wheeler when one of the original actors was unavailable to travel to the regional conference.

“I am pleased with all I have accomplished in my career so far,” said Zacharias, who will be a junior fall term. “EOU has provided me with the opportunity to perform as much or as little as I would like, helping me to build my resume and overall theatre experience. I attribute it to a school that doesn’t have a ‘pay your dues’ attitude and it provides opportunities for people to perform who might not have become involved in theatre had they gone to another school.”

Gregg Henry, the artistic director of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, announced the awards.

Zacharias started his acting career when he was “tricked into auditioning for Romeo and Juliet,” according to his web site at www.eou.edu/theapics/Szachariasindex.htm. He has appeared in six plays at EOU, five at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, two at Western Oregon University in Monmouth and one in the Eastern Oregon Regional Theatre in Baker City. He has also been a guest performer at the Oregon/Washington U.S. Bureau of Land Management Conference, the Oregon High School Thespian Improve Festival and the Pendleton Round-Up Happy Canyon Show.

After he graduates from EOU, Zacharias wants to become a full-time actor at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center outside of Baker City where he has worked the past two summers.

“I world love to get a job as a living history interpreter,” he said. “If the job is available with the U.S. BLM after I graduate, I will jump at that. Most likely I will start performing full-time with the Eastern Oregon Regional Theater Company, Inc., in Baker City and see where my career takes me from there. I just love the eastside of Oregon and I love live theatre. Some of the best theater audiences are in the small towns out here. I would love a life where I could direct high school theatre during the school year while performing in the summer with a regional company.”

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