Project Spotlight: 10-Minute Virtual Play Festival

Videos will be available to watch starting April 5.

Project Spotlight brings their 10-minute play festival to UCF Celebrates the Arts! Watch virtually throughout the week and vote for your favorites. Project Spotlight is the only student developmental theatre organization on the UCF campus. This student-run organization is dedicated to giving all majors a chance to take part in productions and to developing new works.

Watch the voting results live on the Project Spotlight YouTube channel on April 10 at 7:30 p.m. A link to cast your vote will be available soon.

This event will be closed-captioned in English.

Program

Project Spotlight’s Ten Minute Play Competition

Student written, student produced– these five original plays showcase the creativity and ingenuity of young artists during the time of digital theatre. Cast your vote for Audience Favorite!

Show Summaries

Meat-Cute – Two women are immediately attracted to each other when they see each other across the counter of a local deli. There’s just one problem: neither of them knows how to ask the other out. This deli may deal in cold cuts, but the two of them are in a pickle.

Maɪkəl – A young woman’s job interview breaks down as a generation gap divides the conversation, with her unusual name being the elephant in the room.

Absolute Power – Absolute Power looks into the lives of cult members as they reflect in their last moments before death. Inspired by the events of Jonestown.

First Day – Picking the perfect exchange program can be difficult to decide. But lucky for Nancy, she picked the perfect institution…right?

Thaddeus Blair: Werewolf Hunter – Thaddeus Blair is on a mission to solve Brackerwood’s werewolf problem, one dinner party at a time. But which of his four mysterious guests could be the killer?

Cast & Crew Bios

Meat-Cute

Melissa Manrique, Director
Melissa Manrique is a Junior in the BFA Acting Program. This is her third production with Project Spotlight, with previous credits including Of Hawks and Sparrows (Assistant Director) and T19-EC (Director). She would like to thank her actors and creative team for all the hard work they put in. Instagram: @melissamanriqueofficial

Isabella Giraldo, Stage Manager
Isabella is a freshman. She’s been stage managing for four years now and this will be her first show with UCF.

Andrew Lofredo, Playwright
Andrew Lofredo is a junior BFA Musical Theatre Major and is thrilled to be working with Project Spotlight across so many projects for his fifth semester!

Sami-Jo Harding, Arturo
Sami-Jo Harding is a senior studying Clinical Psychology and a Theatre minor. This is her sixth and final season with Project Spotlight having performed, stage managed, and directed throughout her time. She also has had the pleasure to be Project Spotlight’s Front of House Manager for the past couple of semesters. Sami-Jo would like to thank Project Spotlight for being so welcoming during her time at UCF.

Caroline Hull, Coda
Caroline Hull is a senior BA Theatre Studies and Creative Writing double major. She has been working with Project Spotlight for 6 semesters now, and wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. Some of her previous written works include Break, One Way Ticket, and Loving Passion.

Kila Lambertt, Rowan
Kila Lambertt (Michelle/Rowan) is a senior at the University finishing her BFA degree this current semester. Focusing on her independent studies in Voice she is also performing in two productions in Celebrate the Arts. After college, she will be relocating to South Florida to work with theatres in the Jupiter area. She hopes to relocate to California for work in the coming years.

maɪkəl

Shannon Motherwell, Director
Shannon Motherwell is a third-year transfer in the B.A. Theatre Studies program. This semester, she is involved with Project Spotlight as both a director and a stage manager. In past semesters, she has participated as an actor and a playwright. She is actively involved in Playback UCF and is the producer of Celebrate TYA’s 24-Hour Play Festival. 

Hailey Marquez, Asst. Director
Hailey Marquez is a freshman BA Theatre Studies major and is thrilled to be able to work with Project Spotlight for a second time!

Jena Rashid, Stage Manager
Jena Rashid is a Senior in the BA Theatre Studies program and a Music minor at UCF. Her favorite credits include The Butler Did It! as Jessica Jewels at the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival. In addition to previously playwriting, acting, stage managing and directing, she is also the current Company Manager for Project Spotlight. She is very excited to have been able to work with such great people in her last semester!

Will Sippel, Playwright
Will Sippel is a junior in the BFA-Acting program. Past credits at Theatre UCF include Scaramouch in Naxos (Harlequin), Much Ado About Nothing (Dogberry), Urinetown (Mr. McQueen), #GodHatesYou (Joshua) and Sweat (U/S Jason). This is his second semester with Project Spotlight, previously as the playwright of The Underground Game.

Andrew Lofredo, Michael
Andrew Lofredo is a junior BFA Musical Theatre Major and is thrilled to be working with Project Spotlight across so many projects for his fifth semester!

Kila Lambertt, Michelle
Kila Lambertt (Michelle/Rowan) is a senior at the University finishing her BFA degree this current semester. Focusing on her independent studies in Voice she is also performing in two productions in Celebrate the Arts. After college, she will be relocating to South Florida to work with theatres in the Jupiter area. She hopes to relocate to California for work in the coming years.

Absolute Power

Aixa Mendez, Director/Camera Operator
Aixa Méndez, Professor of Theatre, director, actor and an advocate for social justice is honored to be part of Project Spotlight for the first time. I love theatre, film, Ethnodrama, photography, people and nature. I love my students. I love civility, I love social justice. I dislike inequalities. I am a beacon of hope.

Andrew Lofredo, Stage Manager/Camera Operator
Andrew Lofredo is a junior BFA Musical Theatre Major and is thrilled to be working with Project Spotlight across so many projects for his fifth semester!

Amelia Armstrong, Playwright
Amelia Armstrong is an Elementary Education major who has done theatre for most of her life. Absolute Power is her first original play and this is her first semester with Project Spotlight.

Dunstan Ashe, Chris
Dunstan Ashe is a freshman in the BFA Acting program and this is her first show with Project Spotlight. Past credits include Grease (Betty Rizzo), Annie (Miss Hannigan), and James and the Giant Peach (Sponge).

Alexandra Borsellino, Diana
Alexandra is a transfer in the BFA Acting program. Past UCF credits include Side Story (Idiot Box Productions) and First Day (Celebrate TYA’s 24-Hour Play Festival). This semester Alexandra will be to be in Theatre UCF’s main-stage production of Scaramouch in Naxos as well as Moment2Moment’s production of #CaseyandTommyGetHitched and Project Spotlight’s Absolute Power and Thaddeus Blair: Werewolf Hunter.

Giuseppe Michael Pipicella, Steven
Giuseppe Michael Pipicella is a 1st Year MFA Actor, hailing from Florence, Italy, and now loving Florida. He has recently been seen in UCF’s Scaramouch in Naxos and Much Ado About Nothing. He is excited about being a first-time director!

Abigail Laboy Gracia, Kimberly
Abigail Laboy Gracia is a second-year transfer student studying theatre with a minor in journalism.

Michael Sheppard, Asst. Director/Camera Operator/Ensemble
Michael Sheppard is a junior studying Theatre and Cinema Studies. This is his third season with Project Spotlight, having recently been in Project Spotlight shows such as Playing the Fool, Washed Out, and Now Calling. He’d like to continue to thank his friends and family for their support.

Jacqueline Huss, Chris
Jackie Huss is a junior studying History and Anthropology. Jackie has previously appeared in Project Spotlight’s Playing the Fool (Hubert), Vipers (Lindsey), and We’ll See (Quinn).

Cameron Silverman, Editor/Ethan
Cameron is a Junior in UCF’s Theatre Studies program who is also double majoring in political science. This is his first time acting for Project Spotlight, but he was an assistant director for last season’s Loving Passion.

First Day

Giuseppe Michael Pipicella, Steven
Giuseppe Michael Pipicella is a 1st Year MFA Actor, hailing from Florence, Italy, and now loving Florida. He has recently been seen in UCF’s Scaramouch in Naxos and Much Ado About Nothing. He is excited about being a first-time director!

Tori Micaletti, Stage Manager
Tori Micaletti is a first-year grad student in the MFA Acting program. This is her first year working with Project Spotlight. She is excited for the opportunity to do theatre at a time like this.

Jena Rashid, Playwright
Jena Rashid is a Senior in the BA Theatre Studies program and a Music minor at UCF. Her favorite credits include The Butler Did It! as Jessica Jewels at the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival. In addition to previously playwriting, acting, stage managing, and directing, she is also the current Company Manager for Project Spotlight. She is very excited to have been able to work with such great people in her last semester!

Emilie Jean Scheetz, Celcy
Emilie Jean Scheetz is a second-year transfer in the BA Theatre Studies program, and this is her first time participating in Project Spotlight. She has previously appeared in UCF’s production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (ensemble, U/S Miss Shingle).

Madeline Anderon, Sus
Madeline Anderson is a second-year Music Major here at UCF. She is so excited to be returning to Project Spotlight this semester! Previous credits include Realtor in The One With The Ghost, Eleanor in The Graduation Party, Molly Knight in This Isn’t Baseball, and Petra/Agent Miller in The Underground Game.

Caroline Hull, Virginia
Caroline Hull is a senior BA Theatre Studies and Creative Writing double major. She has been working with Project Spotlight for 6 semesters now, and wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. Some of her previous written works include Break, One Way Ticket, and Loving Passion.

Lily McKenna, Nancy
Lily Nicole McKenna is thrilled to be in her sophomore year in the Theatre Studies program. She previously appeared in Project Spotlight’s Dichotomy (Bryce), High Tea with Disharmony (Mr. Pipsy), and Theatre UCF’s production of Urinetown (Ensemble, U/S Little Sally).

Anita Whitney Bennett, Janus
Anita Whitney Bennett is a first-year MFA Acting student at UCF. Theatre credits include UCF’s virtual reading How to Catch Creation (Natalie), God’s Necklace (Hyena Spotty, Nyaliep), Step Show: The Musical (Monie), Un-tamed (Josie, Lu, Isha, Renee), Inacent Black and the Five Brothers (Inacent Black), Black Sparta (Thema), Twelve Angry Women (Juror 10) and Ruined (Salima).

Thaddeus Blair: Werewolf Hunter

Tyler Simons, Director
Ty is a soon-to-be student in the Theatre Studies program. Passed credits at UCF include First Day (Director) for Celebrate TYA’s 24-hour play festival, The Crucible (Asst. Director) in Moment2Moment’s productions. And he’s so excited to start this absolutely amazing process with some immensely talented people!

Isabella Giraldo, Stage Manager
Isabella is a freshman. She’s been stage managing for four years now and this will be her first show with UCF.

Bennett Silverglate, Playwright
Bennett is a Freshman here at UCF. He has written one other play called The Flag Crisis of Wallow Creek, Illinois, but this is the first piece that’s actually being performed in full. He loves to develop and write sitcoms and his dream is to one day see a sitcom he created fully produced on TV.

Paul Pelletier Jr, Thaddeus Blair
Paul is a second-year BFA Acting Major, and has done several shows with Project Spotlight in the past, including We’ll See and The Graduation Party.

Alexandra Borsellino, Irene
Alexandra is a transfer in the BFA Acting program. Past UCF credits include Side Story (Idiot Box Productions) and First Day (Celebrate TYA’s 24-Hour Play Festival). This semester Alexandra will be to be in Theatre UCF’s main-stage production of Scaramouch in Naxos as well as Moment2Moment’s production of #CaseyandTommyGetHitched and Project Spotlight’s Absolute Power and Thaddeus Blair: Werewolf Hunter.

Victoria Lane, Jenny
Victoria Lane is a senior music education major at UCF. She has been a part of Project Spotlight since her freshman year as an actor and assistant director. Her Theatre UCF credits include A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (Assistant Music Director), It’s a Small World (or the Robot Play) (Anne), and First Miss (The Waiter/Chorus Leader). Thank you for supporting theatre in these troubling times!

Dunstan Ashe, Cornelius
Dunstan Ashe is a freshman in the BFA Acting program and this is her first show with Project Spotlight. Past credits include Grease (Betty Rizzo), Annie (Miss Hannigan), and James and the Giant Peach (Sponge).

Cameron Silverman, Reverend Clark
Cameron is a Junior in UCF’s Theatre Studies program who is also double majoring in political science. This is his first time acting for Project Spotlight, but he was an assistant director for last season’s Loving Passion.