Scholarships were awarded on Thursday, February 25 to half a dozen high school seniors with dreams of participating in theatre at Central Methodist University. Two top prizes were given out in the Center Stage talent competition, but theatre director Dr. Mark Kelty hopes that all who participated will be back on stage at the Little Theatre in the fall.
The two $10,000 scholarships for the competition were awarded to Elana Dodson of Bland, Mo. and Arielle Prince of Pevely, Mo.
Dodson, who performed a monologue from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and a song from Anastasia, said she has been involved with theatre since middle school and that she is considering CMU because of its small campus.
“The students and staff are the kindest people, which really makes this campus feel like home,” she said.
Prince, a senior at Herculaneum High School, was unable to make the trip to Fayette on the day but auditioned and attended the award ceremony over Zoom.
Scholarships were also awarded in the amount of $8,000 to Maggie Eyberg of St. Louis and Anthony Funke of Springfield. Shelby Wright of Monroe City and Kaitlyn Bailey of Garden City each earned $7,000 scholarships from the competition.
All the competitors also earned the praise of Dr. Kelty, who thanked them for “having the guts to be an artist” and spoke of the importance of the arts, especially in hard times.
“The arts are always there to give voice to the people,” he told participants. “You may look into your history books and read all about the revolutions and the dictators, presidents, and generals. But if you want to make a lasting impact, it’s through the arts.”
For more on the theatre degree program, visit https://www.centralmethodist.edu/academics/undergraduate/theatre/index.html.