Refried ElvisThe cast and crew of Cuesta College’s original theatrical production Refried Elvis recently received six awards from the Kennedy Center after the play was featured at the 2016 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Oahu, HI, in February. The play, which ran in the fall of 2015 and spring 2016, re-imagined the origins of rock and roll during Elvis Presley’s rise to fame.

Refried Elvis was awarded the following 

  • Distinguished Production of New or Devised Work (Philip Valle)
  • Distinguished Director of New or Revised Work (bree valle)
  • Distinguished Performance by an Actress in a Musical (Allison King)
  • Distinguished Performance by an Actor in a Musical (Tony Costa)
  • Distinguished Performance by an Actor in a Musical (Greg Threlkeld)
  • Distinguished Performance and Production Ensemble

Cuesta College was among only four colleges chosen from its region to perform at the festival and Refried Elvis was the only original play selected. Region VIII includes Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Guam and Hawaii.

This is the second time an original Cuesta College Drama Department production has garnered national acclaim. In Spring 2014, the play pool ’63, which focused on the racial unrest during the civil rights movement in Alabama during 1963, won five awards from the 2014 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, DC.

For information on Cuesta College’s Drama Department, call (805) 546-3195.