LOGAN – The 2026 Bachelor of Fine Arts Actor’s Showcase has been released by Utah State University.
The annual virtual display of graduating Performing Arts student actors features the combined talents of Gem Christiansen, Kaito Davis, Jonah Newton and Ariana Whatcott.
In the brief online showcase, the foursome perform four solo monologues, five two-person scenes and three song excerpts.
The monologues include a fierce except from The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare performed by Ms. Whatcott; Davis doing a heartfelt selection from Fragmented by Karissa Murrel Myers; a sizzling selection from Incendiary by Adam Szymkowicz by Ms. Christiansen; and declaration of comparative love delivered breathlessly by Newton from Candida by George Bernard Shaw.
The two-person scenes featured brilliant pairings of the four actors.
Newton plays a semi-famous actor hiding in a family’s attic opposite an alarmed Davis in a scene from Jared Letto is the Spiderman of Denver by Caroline Kidwell.
Newton and Ms. Whatcott are former lovers whose recollections of a tryst don’t exactly match in an excerpt from The Nina Variations by Steven Dietz.
In a scene with Ms. Christiansen, Newton recalls the hopelessness of Americans in the Depression Era with a selection from Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets.
An excerpt from Stop Kiss by Diana Son also featured Ms. Christiansen and Davis reliving the trauma of a gay-bashing incident.
The final duet scene was a beautifully performed vignette featuring a hard-as-nails Ms. Whatcott opposite a thoroughly lost Ms. Christiansen in a selection from A Girl in a School Uniform Walks into a Bar by Lulu Raczka.
The songs included in the showcase included “Clockwork” performed by Ms. Christiansen from the musical The Clockmaker’s Daughter; Ms. Whatcott’s spirited rendition of “You’ve Got Possibilities” from It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman; and Davis performing “I’ll Save the Girl!’ from Superhero Book.
The virtual display of graduating Performing Arts student actors’ finest and/or favorite performances is now available online at https://artsci.usu.edu/theatre-arts/bfa-actor-showcase?fbclid=IwY2xjawRfD91leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFuV1EwbDBNdmE1NzViUWRmc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmde0miKH8zXUQfhyN2VuSVH1h8dm5KpzGzManWRBbxpTsww63hkG9WsyTB3_aem_Bp0z1l-FwTjBe3EtltYqYQ