New Line Musical Theatre Scholarship Awarded
By: Gabrielle Sierra Jun. 17, 2010
New Line Theatre, "the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre," now in its nineteenth season of provocative, alternative musical theatre, has awarded its 2010 musical theatre scholarship to Matt Dumke, from Kirkwood High School. Judith Newmark, senior theatre critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, selects the winner of the scholarship each year.
Dumke has appeared onstage with Kirkwood High School, the Kirkwood-Crestwood Youth Theatre, Villa Duchesne High School, Nerinx Hall High School, Shooting Star Productions, and The Muny. He has also studied at Stages St. Louis' Performing Arts Academy.The $1,000 scholarship is funded by donations from New Line supporters. Last year's recipient was Jake Fruend of Webster High School, who now attends Columbia College in Chicago, studying musical theatre. Fruend is also currently the directing intern and assistant director for New Line's EVITA, which opens July 8.Each year, the New Line Theatre Scholarship Fund awards a scholarship to one St. Louis metro area high school senior who shows the potential to make outstanding artistic contributions in the musical theatre. This scholarship is available only to high school seniors planning to study musical theatre in college."We've been wanting to offer an annual scholarship for years," says New Line artistic director Scott Miller, "and we couldn't be happier to provide this small help to some young artist who wants to pursue work in the musical theatre. As I've said many times before, musical theatre is one of our few indigenous American art forms and it's never been more vigorous or more adventurous than it is right now. It's an amazing time to be working in the American musical theatre, and we hope that Jake and Matt find as much joy in that work as the New Liners all do."New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission, the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
New Line's 19th season closes with the political rock opera EVITA, running July 8-31. New Line continues to offer the New Line Free Seats, ten seats put aside for every performance, free to anyone with a valid college student ID, as well as $10 tickets to any performance for high school students with a valid ID. For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.Videos