For Immediate Release
June 21, 2006
NOTE: Liberace Scholars are available for interviews. Headshots available digitally.
Chicago IL - The Liberace Foundation and Columbia College Chicago have awarded merit-based scholarships to six of the college's outstanding theater students. This is the third year the Foundation has supported Columbia students.
Competing in a field of their peers, these aspiring theater professionals, were judged to represent "the highest degree of excellence in their particular area of the theater" by a jury comprised faculty from their department.
Two of the students - Meghan Murphy and Lindsay Naas - are receiving the award for their second year, having been named Liberace Scholars in 2005. Ebony Campbell, Leslie Adelina Bradshaw, Eric Turner and Daisica Smith join them this year as all six carry the honorific of Liberace Scholars. The students, who hail from varied backgrounds, are concentrating in three areas of theater arts.
The two continuing Liberace Scholars are both pursuing majors in acting.
Meghan Murphy grew up in Lansing, Illinois and entered Columbia as a freshman after her graduation from Thornton Fractional South High School in 2002. She has been very busy over the past year working in both Columbia College and professional productions. At Columbia, she appeared in the mainstage production of The Cripple of Inishmaan as well as appearing in a student film, Coop's Night In. This past winter, Meghan worked as an ensemble member and understudy in Mary Zimmerman's production of Pericles at the Goodman Theatre and appeared in And This Was Free, an educational theater piece for the Maxwell Street Coalition.
Lindsay Naas, who came to Columbia in 2003 from her hometown of Chesterfield, Missouri, continues to pursue a double major in American Sign Language and Theater. Over the past year, this singer-actress contributed her talents to Columbia's productions of Into the Woods, Company and Ragtime. She also had the thrill of performing for Dame Julie Andrews when the legendary star visited Columbia. Lindsay has recently signed on as a company member and publicity manager for Blue Moon Studio Theater and this winter she'll be appearing as Gertie in American Theater Company's production of Oklahoma.
Leslie Adelina Bradshaw is the first Liberace Scholar at Columbia to be pursuing a degree in playwriting. The 21-year-old native of Garland, Texas transferred to Columbia after beginning her college career at Loyola University Chicago where she was a political science major. Leslie had been active in theater activities in her suburban Dallas high school and one theatrical design class at Loyola reignited her love of the stage; Columbia's artistic environment drew her to the south loop school to start her sophomore year. Her writing projects have been produced in the Theater department's New Plays Festival and performed in a staged reading at Story Week, the Fiction Writing department's annual literary festival. She's also designed costumes for a Columbia project and worked in arts administration as the Theater department's box office manager.
Ebony Campbell has set her sights on a directing career in both the theater and film. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she was actively involved in theater when she attended the Performing Arts program at DuPont Manual Magnet High School, graduating in 2003 with a major in theater. Choosing Columbia for its diversity and the opportunity to dive right into her creative endeavors, she's made the most of her time at the college. Ebony has both directed and acted in projects for the Film department and is assistant directing for Chuck Smith for his Columbia production of August Wilson's Two Trains Running this fall. She has also worked at the professional level, assistant directing Next Theatre's production of Fabulation or The Re-education of Undine, which has been nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award.
The other directing major, Eric Turner, came to Columbia from Concord, California by way of Springfield, Illinois. Active in his high school drama club as an actor, director and writer, Eric moved to Springfield following his 2002 graduation and spent a couple of years working in community theater. At Columbia he has directed, assistant directed or stage managed six plays to date, including works as diverse as Edward Albee's The American Dream and She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. Eric has also worked with theater department chair Sheldon Patinkin, assisting the Chicago legend with his production of The Sunset Limited at Steppenwolf Garage.
Memphis-born actress and singer Daisica Smith began her college theater career at University of Tenessee, Knoxville following her 2004 graduation from Ridgeway High School. At Ridgeway, she served as President and Vice President of the International Honors Thespian Society and won numerous awards for her acting accomplishments. Daisica made the change to Columbia in order to pursue her full range of creative interests including fine and computer art, as the school encourages artistic exploration across disciplines. As an actress she's already racked up two major productions at Columbia - Ragtime and A Streetcar Named Desire, and looks forward to lending her talents to a range of roles and projects over the next few years.
The mission of the Liberace Foundation is to help talented students pursue careers in the performing and creative arts through scholarship assistance. Since 1976, The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has awarded more than 4.5 million dollars in scholarship grants to over 100 universities, schools and organizations including The Julliard School, Northwestern University, Oberlin and UCLA. For more information visit www.liberace.org.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a "hands-on minds-on" approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Through the diversity of its students and graduates, the school brings a rich vision and multiplicity of voices to American culture. For further information visit www.colum.edu.