The Alamo Theatre Arts Council (ATAC) award nominations are in, and Trinity University’s Theatre Program earned four. This year’s Trinity nominees include student actors Elliot Schein and Lily Calvert*, faculty costume designer Kellie Grengs and Trinity’s 2023 production of “A Doll’s House, Part 2.” Also, Carlos R. Nine, visiting assistant professor and lighting designer, received two nominations for his work on “A Christmas Carol” at the San Pedro Playhouse.
Elliot Schein, senior communication major, was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance in “The Prom,” a musical following the story of four Broadway actors who help a queer student experiencing discrimination at her school. Schein played Barry Glickman, one of the four Broadway actors.
“I thought it was a really fun experience. I would say Dr. Stith [the director] gave me a lot of creativity and a lot of freedom to work with that character however I wanted to, and I was really appreciative of that,” Schein said.
Schein has a long history working on theater productions and said that his mother put him into theater at a young age — a passion he’s had ever since. He began acting in musicals in middle school and said that he enjoyed watching musicals like “Annie” as a kid. This is the first time Schein has been nominated for an ATAC award.
“It’s an honor to be nominated for something like that, just because I know a lot of the other people that are in that community [of nominees] are professionals,” Schein said. “So it’s very cool to be in that same group as them.”
The other Trinity Theatre Program nominees for the ATAC awards are all related to Trinity’s production of “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” which was itself nominated for Outstanding Production of a Comedy.
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and is set 15 years after the original play. It follows the story of a woman named Nora who must confront the family she abandoned in the first play. The production was directed by Stacey Connelly, associate professor of theater, and consisted of a cast of four characters.
“It was really joyful,” Connelly said. “I mean, it’s rare to be able to work on a show with such a small cast. And so we were able to really spend a lot of time experimenting with different approaches to the scenes we had.”
Despite only having about a month between the time of auditions and the first show, the cast was able to produce nomination-worthy performances.
Lily Calvert, junior human communication major who played the lead character Nora, was nominated for an Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Comedy for her work in the production.
“It was nice to have someone like Lily who had significant experience. … She just has a natural kind of emotional availability that I think a lot of people just don’t have,” Connelly said.
Additionally, Kellie Grengs, costume designer for Trinity’s theater program, was nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for a Play. Grengs, who is teaching her fourth year at Trinity, has been designing costumes for over 25 years and has worked on around 100 shows. Being nominated for an ATAC award for the first time, Grengs said that her commitment to research and detail when creating costumes is what brings her work to the next level.
“When this [was announced], I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so cool,’ because I’m very new to this community, so for my work to be recognized is a little pat on the back. I was like, ‘Well, I’m the new kid in town. I’ve been doing it for a long time, but I haven’t been doing theater in San Antonio for a long time,’ Grengs said. “So just to be recognized by other theater artists is like — I have arrived. It’s so great the performers got recognized, the whole show got recognized. It’s nice.”
*Lily Calvert is Evelyn Ragsdale’s roommate
