CLU's “The Cherry Orchard” at prestigious Region Region VIII Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival
(l-r) The cast of CLU’s “The Cherry Orchard” includes Jordan Skinner as Trofimov, Jessica Butenshon as Anya and Elyse Sinklier as Ranevskaya.
(l-r) The cast of CLU’s “The Cherry Orchard” includes Jordan Skinner as Trofimov, Jessica Butenshon as Anya and Elyse Sinklier as Ranevskaya.
CLU production of “The Cherry Orchard” invited to regional festival, Encore performances of ‘Cherry Orchard’ slated

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - California Lutheran University’s Theatre Arts Department has been invited to stage its production of “The Cherry Orchard” at the prestigious Region VIII Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

The Anton Chekhov play about a quirky family in early 20th-century Russia will be presented at the festival in Los Angeles on Thursday, Feb. 10. The public is invited to attend performances at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, and Saturday, Feb. 5, in CLU’s Blackbox Studio.

Only 10 productions from Southern California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah were invited to fully mount their shows at the festival. This is the second time a CLU Mainstage Theatre production has been selected.

Judges will select four to six of the productions from the eight regional conferences to be showcased at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The 42-year-old program is designed to encourage, recognize and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.

The CLU production was originally staged in November under the direction of theatre arts professor Michael J. Arndt. Assistant professor Nate Sinnott designed the evocative and symbolic set and the lighting that reflects the haze of time. Costume designer Val Miller, a new lecturer at CLU, captured the look and feel of the period; professional composer Chris Hoag provided a haunting score and sound design; and Barbara Wegher-Thompson coached the performers on movement.

The cast features the following: senior music major Kayla Bailey of Moorpark; junior theatre arts major Storie Blake of Encino; sophomore theatre arts major Jessica Butenshon of Astoria, Ore.; junior theatre arts major Alex Colello of Las Vegas, Nev.; senior theatre arts major Ryan Culbertson of Plainfield, N.J.; junior theatre arts major Alex Greene of Westlake Village; sophomore theatre arts major Jeremy Hanna of Newbury Park; sophomore Karolina Keach of Calabasas; freshman English major Dan Knierim of Puyallup, Wash.; junior Taylor Lampela of Bakersfield; senior theatre arts major Jeff Opine of Los Altos; sophomore theatre arts major Tommy Schofield of Edmonds, Wash.; junior theatre arts major Elyse Sinklier of Des Moines, Iowa; sophomore multimedia major Jordan Skinner of Phoenix; sophomore multimedia major Jordan Stidham of Westlake Village; and sophomore theatre arts major Catherine Widmann of Broomfield, Colo. Junior theatre arts major Anne Sherman of Agoura Hills is stage manager and freshman theatre arts majors Ashton Williams of Sparks, Nev., and Kaylin Mendoza of Los Alamos are assistant stage managers.

CLU’s Blackbox Studio is located in the Theatre Arts Building on the north side of Memorial Parkway near Pioneer Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus. Limited seating is available. Donations will be collected. For more information, call the Theatre Arts Department at (805) 493-3415.