Professor, Laura Chaney would like to wish the following senior students a special congratulations on their last play at Cottey:
Mariah Crutchfield
Taylor Jordan
Sasha Smith
Alexis Ward
The time sure has flown fast and it amazing to think that you will be the first students to graduate with a BA in theatre at Cottey. You have all reached for the stars and chased not only your dreams and personal ambitions but have grown in other areas as well.
Mariah: Mariah came to theatre mid-college career and originally was interested in pursuing playwriting. I hired Mariah as a theatre assistant and I believe they found a knack for set construction very quickly. However, the work Mariah did on Descendants with lighting quickly lit a passion for Lighting design. Mariah's work at Cottey has allowed them to have two plays produced, two main-stage lighting designs, a main-stage set design, a costume design and to work on the many outside performances that have been brought to our stage. Most recently, Mariah was awarded a lighting design award at KC-ACTF in which Mariah will travel to Washington, DC to compete for the National Award. I'm excited to see all that Mariah will do in the future in both lighting design and playwriting. A student after my own heart.
Taylor: Taylor came to Cottey as a non-traditional student and pursuing biology, playing on the flag-football team in addition to studying theatre. Her main passion is singing and she plans to pursue this dream after college. She started in the theatre as an actress in "Marian or the true tale of Robin Hood" but quickly became encompassed in all things theatre. She has been a scene painter on every production, a theatre assistant, a hair and makeup artist, a poster and program designer, and director for numerous student productions as well as this final mainstage performance. She was awarded a spot at KC-ACTF to train in New York with Open Jar studios in 2022. Taylor most recently won the Mehron Hair and Makeup award at KC-ACTF's regional festival. This past fall the theatre department sponsored Taylor's band "Taylor Deraynged" for thier premier perfomance. This April the band will have a final performance during Founders Weekend. Taylor has always been someone I can rely on to tackle any project. She will be greatly missed but I know I will see her taking the stage again as a lead singer in her band.
Sasha: From the moment I met Sasha at her audition for Cottey, I knew she was born to be an actress. She has an amazing talent in both performing and vocally. It is no surprise that she wants to be a broadway performer. Sasha was awarded a spot with "Singers on Stage" during the summer of 2022 to perform in a Cabaret in New York City which marked her first off-broadway performance. It is no surprise that Sasha has been cast as a lead in almost every play at Cottey. In addition she has served as a theatre assistant, sound designer, choreographer, intinacy coach, fight director, scene painter and most recently a director for this play. Sasha has been awarded the Irene Ryan for her acting in 3 productions. Sasha is a triple threat as an actor, singer and dancer and is sure to chase her dreans all the way to Broadway. You will be very missed, but I look forward to seeing you on the stage in your first musicl in New York very soon!
