Alumnae Earn Indy Theatre Awards
The Santa Barbara Independent awarded recent Westmont graduate Christine Nathanson ’16 for acting and directing at the annual Indy Theatre Awards presentation May 23. Also, alumna Paige Tautz ’14 won an award for her performance in “Mad and a Goat,” which was written by alumna Diana Lynn Small ’09.
Nathanson won for her performance in “Dido Queen of Carthage” and as director for “Tar and Feather,” a world premiere by Kristin Idaszak, a nationally recognized playwright from Chicago.
Alumna Heather (Ostberg) Johnson ’11 also performed in “Mad and a Goat,” which will be performed in Brooklyn this summer.
“We are so happy for these awards that featured our students and recent alumna,” says Mitchell Thomas, professor of theater arts. “Also, two of the awards were for two new plays written by women playwrights. This year our department focused on diversifying the voices represented on our stage. Fifteen of the 20 new plays were written by women.”
Nathanson came to Santa Barbara from Chula Vista, where she performed in West Side Story (Anita), Fiddler on the Roof (Golde), and Les Miserables (Eponine). Her first Westmont performance was as Antonia in “Much Ado about Nothing” (2012).
As a sophomore, Nathanson played the title role in “Electra,” a demanding tour de force performance that required an extreme physical and emotional journey for the actress.
“She blends academic excellence with performance rigor and accomplishment in numerous unique ways,” says John Blondell, professor of theater arts. “Her insatiable curiosity, boundless energy and impeccable work ethic lead to success in the classroom and on the stage. Her acting career has been dominated by vivid, imaginative, moving performances in material ranging from Greek tragedy to comic operetta to Renaissance tragedy.
“Her career as a director is marked by dramatic clarity and stylistic savvy that belie her years and experience. Christine is focused. She is voracious. She is driven. Christine Nathanson is the epitome of what we want for our graduates: she will enjoy a long, fruitful, and endlessly creative life in the theater, or wherever her many gifts lead her.”
Westmont premiered 20 plays this past season, including five full-length plays: “Good Day” by Small, “Mad and A Goat” by Small, “Tar and Feather” by Idaszak, “Second Skin” by Idaszak and “The Sinner and the Saint” by Danielle Draper ’16 and Lindsey Twigg ’16.