WordWave - Valhalla Tahoe

Our Mission:

Lake Tahoe's Only One-Act Play Competition & Staged Reading Event

Contest opens May 5, 2023. Staged reading performance is September 30, 2023.

Our vision for WordWave is an annual cultural event for locals and visitors to share their stories, create and be inspired by the beauty of Lake Tahoe. Every culture uses story to entertain, educate, preserve traditions, and connect. The underlying principle of WordWave is that stories, when shared with others, change lives. WordWave provides a venue for locals and visitors to experience these shared stories on stage, where the doors open to the shores of Lake Tahoe.

WordWave features an annual one-act play writing competition that opens in spring and running through summer that culminates in a winners’ event in the fall. Three submissions will be selected each year as the winners and each winner will receive a cash prize and be offered a 2-night stay in South Lake Tahoe to see their work directed and produced as a staged reading at the historic Valhalla Boathouse Theatre.

Contest Info

Event Tickets

Ginger Nicolay-Davis graduated from The University of Mississippi with a Masters degree in Communication Science. She has been studying theatre and performing for over 30 years. While attending the University of Mississippi, she won a Mississippi Theatre Association award for her role as “Joy” in Shadowlands. She has produced and performed in several productions at Valhalla including August Osage County. She has served on the Board of Directors for Valhalla for 7 years and was president of the board for 3 years. Ginger is a real estate broker and owns her own firm in South Lake Tahoe.

Diana Evans has worked in marketing in the Tahoe area for close to 30 years. She owns a marketing & advertising agency called DAE&Co. that specializes in tourism & resort marketing. She currently serves on the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority Marketing Committee and has volunteered in theatre arts and cultural events in the area for over 20 years. She is a seasoned actor, singer, and has even been known to dance occasionally. A past Valhalla Tahoe (aka Tahoe Tallac Association) board member, she served as the Board President for over a year.

David Hamilton has an MFA in acting from UC Davis, an MA in Theatre from San Diego State. He has performed professionally in the Bay Area with theatres such as Berkeley Repertory, Marin Theatre Company, and Shakespeare San Francisco. He was the Director of Theatre at Lake Tahoe Community College for 19 years where he was privileged to help design and create the Duke Theatre. Having produced and directed over 80 productions, he also wrote the book and co-wrote lyrics for the musical Beauty, and lyrics and story for the rock opera Lysistrata’s War, which performed at the Festival Fringe in Edinburgh and the Victoria Fringe. He has also served as the Dean of Visual and Performing Arts at Folsom Lake College and the Dean of Business, Design and Workforce at Cañada College.

Michelle Morton is the Operations Manager at Valhalla Tahoe. Between managing the property, hosting events and planning for Valhalla Tahoe’s future, Michelle finds peace through written word. Michelle took the stage for the first time in 2019 as part of South Lake Tahoe’s annual performance of the Vagina Monologues. She loves announcing events and contest winners in the Boathouse Theatre and she has a passion for storytelling and fine arts.

From The Committee

Cultivating a Space For Creative Ideas

We feel that theater is essential in our culture and in helping people share experiences and create connections. Theater brings us together to laugh, to cry, and to engage in stories of being human. We created this event for new playwrights to showcase their creativity and to see their work on a real stage; for directors & actors to perform new work and meet new talent; and for theater lovers to experience the joys of theater with an evening of entertainment and discovery. Creating a dialogue between new playwrights, directors, actors, and audience members allows all four to become more invested in the power of creativity, specifically in the joy of theater. We hope you will become a part of this incredible event, whether you are a playwright, a director, an actor, or an audience member. Support theater in South Lake Tahoe.

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A play about friendship. About sharing our vulnerabilities. About growing older. About saying things you would never say to someone that wasn’t your best friend. Inappropriate, funny, caustic, and irreverent, Liddy & Eleanor maneuver through one of their “closest friend’s” funeral with hilarity.
John Paul Porter2019 Winner for Funeral for a Friend

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This play instantly spoke to us. It’s quirky and poetic, with human truths that can speak to anyone. A lovely piece that will tug at your heart-strings, make you laugh, and have you cheering in the end.
Dagney Kerr2019 Winner for Deanna and Paul

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To anyone that has ever had auto-correct text messages go out without intent, this is your play. A funny take on current faux-pas in the world of dating, this play will definitely tickle your funny bone and have you laughing out loud!
Dave Hanson2019 Winner for Cafe D’Automatique

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As if the joy of seeing my work brought to life wasn’t enough, the location is absolutely heavenly, the Boathouse Theater is like a little hidden gem, and the people involved with producing WordWave are extremely generous, enthusiastic, and sweet. I’ll never forget the feeling of hearing the reactions from the audience of wonderful locals gathered together to support new writers — I think I spent the evening a few inches off the ground. WordWave is a great experience for an emerging playwright.
Gabriella Giocomo2017 winner for Locked In

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What an incredible experience it was to see the talented actors and director bring my words to life onstage. The night of the production was one of the best nights of my life. I was so proud of the actors and grateful for the way they treated my work with such respect and enthusiasm. They brought their own artistic vision to my script and, by bringing the characters and their relationships to life, made it even better than simply my words on the page.
Dallas Woodburn2015 winner for Woman Running Late in a Dress

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Valhalla Tahoe is operated under special use permit with the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, Valhalla Tahoe is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination: write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.