色情视频

鈥淭he creativity and entrepreneurial spirit Gabe showed in facilitating and encouraging theater during the pandemic is remarkable.鈥�

For every curveball the pandemic threw at him, Gabe Floresca-Igtanloc kept pivoting and persevering.

The senior theater performance major spent his undergraduate career training for the opportunity to lead 色情视频's Musical Theatre Club and direct, choreograph, produce and perform in the musical 鈥淪pring Awakening.鈥�

But COVID-19 caused several venues to fall through, greatly limited the ability to rehearse in-person and presented roadblocks that forced Igtanloc to think on his feet and 鈥� time and time again 鈥� re-envision the play, a coming-of-age musical set in provincial Germany.

Where many students may have wrung their hands and quit, Floresca-Igtanloc adapted. His play had a successful four-day run at  in April. 

鈥淲e really made a beautiful piece of work, despite all the punches we were thrown. It is something I am so proud of,鈥� Igtanloc said. 鈥淭he community came together in the end to make this happen. A lot of people were really invested in bringing the theater back after being away from it for so long.鈥�

Igtanloc is the recipient of 色情视频鈥檚 2021 , an honor given to a graduating senior for exceptional entrepreneurial achievement. The award is distributed by the Division of Research and Innovation and recognizes students who are 鈥減assionate about solving a problem, persistent, and uninhibited by roadblocks, naysayers, limited resources or the fear of failure,鈥� according to a call for nominations sent to each college this spring. 

鈥淭he faculty could not support large productions during the pandemic and Gabe stepped in with a spirit of dedication and vision,鈥� said Robert Meffe, head of 色情视频鈥檚 musical theater department. The professor nominated Igtanloc for the award, adding that the senior 鈥渁chieved beyond what I thought was possible鈥� by producing two musicals during the pandemic. 

The first of the two, 鈥淭he Mad Ones,鈥� was a small, entirely virtual affair. The second performance, however, included a large team that performed on stage and filmed the performance for digital viewing April 15-18.

To help fund 鈥淪pring Awakening鈥� 鈥� which included 14 actors and 20 support staff 鈥� Igtanloc successfully applied for a $2,300 色情视频 Student Success Fee Grant, as well as private donations. He recruited students from 色情视频鈥檚 musical theater performance class and held hours-long rehearsals over Zoom until the team received the all-clear to practice in person. After securing and subsequently losing reservations (due to COVID-19-related issues and technical issues) for two open-air theaters on campus, Igtanloc received special permission to perform at the Don Powell, an indoor venue that required him to delay production by a week and rework choreography to accommodate safety protocols in a smaller space than originally anticipated. 

Igtanloc was vigilant about COVID-19 safety protocols, as just one COVID-19 positive case would not only set back his performance, but likely other performances also rehearsing on campus at the time.

In fact, he and his team took the opportunity to be creative with required masks, integrating the masks into actors鈥� costumes as a way to signify characters being silenced or muzzled. 

鈥淭he creativity and entrepreneurial spirit Gabe showed in facilitating and encouraging theater during the pandemic is remarkable,鈥� said Hala Madanat, interim vice president for research and innovation. 鈥淕abe is a wonderful example of the perseverance and ingenuity of our students during an unprecedented and unpredictable year.鈥�

The Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award is funded by Irwin Zahn and the Moxie Foundation and comes with a $25,000 scholarship. Zahn鈥檚 philanthropic giving goes beyond this annual scholarship. His donations also  and the Zahn Professorship of Creativity and Innovation.

After graduation, Igtanloc plans to study theater and performance at Columbia College in Chicago and use the award money to help fund his master鈥檚 degree.