AACT Fest 2025 region iii

It was a weekend of friends old and new, parties, and of course great theater!

Thank you to each theater that worked so hard to bring your productions to the Lebowsky Center stage:

Stagecrafters - Silent Sky

Twin City Players - A Measure of Cruelty

3B Producitons - Bright Star

Little Theater Off Broadway - The Psychic

Mandi Theater - The Carbon Footprint of a Cradle

Verona Community Theater - Love, Loss & What I Wore

Kettle Morraine Players - Under Control

Region III has earned the wildcard position, awarded to the region with the most groups participating in the AACTFest theatre cycle. This means Region III is sending TWO theatres to the National Festival!

 Theatre Representing Region III:

1. Stagecrafters (Royal Oak, MI) – Silent Sky

2. Verona Area Community Theatre (Verona, WI) – Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Alternate: 3B Productions

A huge congratulations to both theatres!

You’ll represent Region III proudly at the National AACTFest25 in Des Moines, Iowa, June 25-28!

David R. Kilpatrick, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Des Moines Community Playhouse

David is the executive director of The Des Moines Community Playhouse. Prior he as the executive director of La Crosse Community Theatre and The Old Creamery Theatre. In addition to business, David is also very experienced on the show side of the industry.

His has directed musicals (All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914; Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Newsies, Catch Me If You Can and Titanic to name a few), and straight plays, (Murder on the Orient Express, Weekend Comedy and Boeing Boeing). David’s career has also included owner of a dinner theatre, lighting designer and production manager and stage manager. David has enjoyed working for theatres in such diverse communities as Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia, Georgia, California, and Upstate New York. His education includes degrees from George Mason University, Missouri State and University of Missouri, where his dissertation was the exploration of the audience preparing for the show.

Annette G Procunier

Since 1984 Annette has adjudicated more than 200 festivals in the United States, Canada, Europe, Ireland, and Japan She is the only person to have adjudicated AACTFest four times. Annette's work as an adjudicator earned her the distinction of Fellow of AACT and she is the author of a book on adjudication “Do You See What I See?” Annette has also been presented with the Mort Clark International Achievement Award and is a TNT Spotlight Award recipient.

Besides her work as an adjudicator Annette is an award winning director having worked for 18 different theatre companies across Canada and in the United States. She provides workshops in directing, acting, play writing and stage management as well as adjudication.

Annette helped to found two professional theatres in Canada and has served on the boards of theatre and opera companies as well as Theatre Canada and NARA. She has represented Canada at the IATA congress in Monaco and is the only North American to have been invited to adjudicate the Mondial.

In the last 15 years Annette has worked extensively with new playwrights on script

development and has been a judge in several new play competitions. After 50 years working in community, educational and professional theatre it still remains her passion.

Ron Ziegler

Ron resides in North Port, FL and retired from his position as Festivals Coordinator for the American Association of Community Theatre after a 40+ year theatre career. Following the receipt of his Master’s degree from the University of South Dakota, he served on staff at Waukesha (WI) Civic Theatre, Sioux Falls (SD) Community Playhouse, Orlando (FL) Repertory Theatre and the Des Moines (IA) Playhouse as Associate Director where he was the first Artistic/Managing Director for the Kate Goldman Children's Theatre.

While in Des Moines, he founded and managed the Iowa Fringe Festival. He is a past Member-at-Large, Treasurer and President of the American Association of Community Theatre, was named an AACT Fellow, and joined the AACT Staff as Field Services Director in 2009. Ron has adjudicated state and regional theatre festivals across the US and abroad, including the 2007 AACTFest in Charlotte, NC. He has directed for theatres in Iowa, South Dakota, Kentucky, Florida and Germany. Ron and his spouse Kathy Pingel were awarded the 2015-16 Cloris Leachman Award for Outstanding Direction for their co-direction of Des Moines Young Artists Theatre's production of The Hobbit, and co-directed Peter and the Starcatcher and Girls' Weekend for Ansbach Terrace Playhouse in Germany. Ron’s Venice (FL) Theatre production of David Harrower’s Blackbird appeared at AACTWorldFest in June 2022. In 2023, Ron was awarded the Art Cole Lifetime of Leadership award from the American Association of Community Theatre.