William Symington

Ethington Theatre’s walls reverberated with movie magic the past few weeks as students and faculty created props for the Boylan sisters’ movie, “Identity Crisis,” while it was being filmed on campus. From portable dressing rooms and prop walls to the cloning machine used by the main character in the film, there is no shortage of GCU talent set to grace the screen. “The opportunity for college students to get involved with a Hollywood and national-level film is not something that comes up every day, to say the least,” said COFAP Assistant Dean of Theatre and Dance and “Identity Crisis” Art Director William Symington.

There was no shortage of diversity Monday at the Fall Learning Community and Research Symposium. Students from the College of Fine Arts and Production, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology came together to present five research projects to an audience made up of GCU faculty, staff and executives. “It was such a great opportunity to be able and come here and speak,” said Jaelynn Maestas, from the “Epidemiological Model of Violent Behavior” group. “It’s so cool to be able to present to other people. … It was amazing. I have no other words.”

It’s a season of celebration as College of Fine Arts and Production performances make their grand return to Ethington Theatre. Audiences will be welcomed back with an array of musicals, comedies and dramas as well as the return of indoor dance concerts. “I think it’s going to be just a really enjoyable season,” COFAP Assistant Dean of Theatre and Dance William Symington said. “I can’t wait to get back in the theatre and feel that energy between the cast and the audience.”

It just gets better and better for College of Fine Arts and Productions when it comes to the annual ariZoni Awards. This year, the college won eight awards, seven for last year’s production of a “A Year with Frog and Toad.” “I feel like I can believe that it’s just going to get better and better in terms of what we do and our reputation across the country,” said COFAP Assistant Dean William Symington.

The outdoor stage for the production of “The Comedy of Errors” was a major success. Counting the livestream viewers, the five performances averaged more people than the 311-person capacity of Ethington Theatre and were well-received by the in-person audiences. “A lot of audience members commented on how fun it was,” said William Symington, Assistant Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Production.

The new outdoor stage for Ethington Theatre productions has been constructed in time for the first play of the season, “The Comedy of Errors,” which begins Wednesday night. It turned into an educational project for College of Fine Arts and Production staff and students. “I think we’re uniquely suited for this,” COFAP Assistant Dean William Symington said. “It’s been a challenge, but we create a problem-solving way of thinking of how to do something in a different way and how to make a positive out of it.”

The College of Fine Arts and Production is meeting the effects of the pandemic head-on. Its innovations include outdoor performances, master classes with industry professionals, livestreaming and a little of Disney’s “The Mandalorian” thrown in for good measure. COFAP Dean Claude Pensis calls it a “fun challenge.”

It wasn’t the ending they had wanted, but the Ethington Theatre department wasn’t going to let COVID-19 rob them of the opportunity to experience the final production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” So what did they do? On the final night of rehearsal last week, shortly after receiving the news that all campus events would be canceled for the remainder of the semester, the cast performed what would be their only run-through of the anticipated production right then and there, with no costumes, a half finished set and other production details. It was an experience students won’t soon forget.

References to the Ethington Theatre’s production of “Peter and the Starcatcher” last year will have to be amended — now you can say it was an award-winning production. GCU’s Theatre Department took home four ariZoni Awards for “Starcatcher” — best overall production, Megan Sutton for Actress in a Supporting Role and Michael Kary for Director and Fight Choreography. “Winning at all now is really hard because it’s so big,” Assistant Dean William Symington said of the ariZonis, the state’s version of the Tony Awards.

The Theatre Department earned 20 ariZoni Awards nominations for last year’s productions of “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Ring Round the Moon,” and Christina McSheffrey was selected as one of three winners of the 2019 Zoni Scholarship. “I think it just speaks volumes about the education they’re receiving and how we try to work as much as possible to help them be ready to move on to either grad school or into entertainment as a profession,” said Claude Pensis, College of Fine Arts and Productions Dean and also an ariZoni Nominee. The award ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday in Scottsdale.