ACT 1 founder Petra Karr was passionate about providing theater education to youth. Petra's death may have put an end to ACT 1's ability to provide theatrical productions and classes, but it did not stop us from financially supporting them.
In 2024 we funded our fourth Petra Karr Leadership Scholarship through Washington State Thespians.
Once again we decided to grant two ACT 1 Alumni Awards, given to former participants who went above and beyond in supporting ACT 1 Theatre. The 2024 awards went to Emily Mayberry, who was often assigned the challenging job of stage manager, and Gene Achziger, who is responsible for the vast majority of original artwork. Gene was often called upon to be a photographer. He also edited the Ad Lib newsletter.
We awarded three education grants. For the second year we supported SOGO - Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia. This organization is renowned for providing high quality musical education to students at low to no cost. We also supported Tacoma Arts Live youth education program. This program offers theater camps and classes on a needs-based sliding scale. Our final grant was to Puyallup based Northwest Theatre Lab in support of their youth scholarship programs.
If ACT 1 Theatre touched your life, we are asking you to help support these educational endeavors and keep Petra's dream alive. Our goal is to provide $5,000 in financial support to the program in 2025. Each birthday gift will be matched by an anonymous donor up to $2,500.
Whether your gift is $10 or $1,000, 100% of funds received by ACT 1 will go to support scholarships and awards.
2024 Performing Arts Educational Grants
Congratulations to our Alumni Award 2024 Recipients
Gene Achzinger
Emily Mayberry
Congratulations to our 2023-2024
Petra Karr Scholarship Recipient!
Julia Underwood
Julia is highly deserving of the Petra Karr memorial award. Julia exemplifies everything that Petra stood for! While she is pursuing early childhood education, Julia will bring both leadership and Theatre into the classroom; and we need early childhood educators to lead their peers toward more Theatre Education!
After high school, I aim to teach elementary schoolers. For quite some time now I have been infatuated with the idea of making an impact on young minds. Along with the skills of honed during my three years being an officer, I believe that with proper training I can support young children in their quest for knowledge. I will carry theatre with me through the rest of my life, incorporating it into my lessons and hopefully, finding time to audition for a role or two.