Some of the top collegiate actors and actresses will be in Lawrence starting Sunday for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s regional competition.About 1,600 theater students from around 100 colleges and universities will be in Lawrence as Kansas University hosts the annual competition, which runs through Jan. 23. Contestants are coming from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.You might remember that several KU productions in recent years have done well enough at the regional competition to go on to nationals in Washington, D.C. Because KU is hosting this year, the school can’t enter a play. But some acting students are competing in other categories.Unfortunately, theater fans won’t get a chance to take in the events, as the competition isn’t open to the public. There just enough seats at Murphy Hall to accommodate all the participants and others in the performing venues.The Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, by the way, says theater participants have booked about 2,100 hotel rooms during the five-day event, and they’ll spend about $1.1 million in Lawrence.You can read more about the competition Saturday in the Journal-World and here at LJWorld.com.