Theatre's Kimberly Powers Wins Prestigious OPERA America Award

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Kimberly Powers

U of A’s Kimberly Powers recently received the prestigious Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize from OPERA America. Powers, who specializes in scenic design, has served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Theatre and scenic design mentor at the U of A since 2015. 

The Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize is awarded to promising director-designer teams who are bringing operatic works to life for contemporary audiences. Four teams were selected from a group of applicants and invited to devise new production concepts for classic operas. 

Powers, an adjunct professor in the U of A’s Department of Theatre, worked on a production concept of the opera Sweeney Todd. Other team members include Kimille Howard, director; John D. Alexander, lighting designer; and Danielle Preston, costume designer. 

A scene from U of A scenic design professor Kim Powers’ award-winning Sweeney Todd set design.

Powers’ vision as the project’s set designer was to set Sweeney Todd in Bethlem Royal Hospital, a psychiatric facility in London that closed in 1633. 

“The director was interested in making Sweeney Todd into a more visceral experience for the audience,” Powers said. “So, I asked myself, what if the whole story was told within the walls of an insane asylum? What if the asylum residents were our storytellers, and the audience just bears witness to this macabre entertainment?" 

In addition to fostering innovative production concepts, the Robert L.B. Tobin award is known for launching careers. For Powers, though, the most exciting aspect of winning this award is the opportunity for collaboration.

“The individuals I worked with are phenomenal artists and people,” Powers said. “I haven't worked with them in years, so this has been a great opportunity to reconnect with them, make art and dream big together.” 

Powers started her career as a resident artist for various theaters, including Ocean State Theatre Company, Ohio Light Opera and The Denver Center Theatre Company, where she was a first design assistant. She has since grown an impressive freelance career as a scenic designer, props master and fine artist, and her work can be seen across theaters nationwide. 

OPERA America is a national program that serves the entire opera community, supporting the creation, presentation and enjoyment of opera with the mission of moving the medium forward as an industry and art form.

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