Downtown Becky Brown Wins Prestigious Scholarship Award at Maryland International Thespian Festival
by Chris Copen for Walkersville High School Lion’s Pride
For seven years I’ve had the honor of working with the superbly talented Becky Brown on the stage and screen. Many others who have had the gift of working with her have always known the extreme talent that Brown possesses, and Saturday, the state of Maryland honored that talent with a scholarship at the Maryland International Thespian Festival.
The Maryland Thespian Festival is an annual event was hosted at local Tuscarora High School. Students from high schools across the state gathered together to perform one act plays as well as audition for various awards and scholarships. In total, over 400 kids were in attendance, with many of them competing.
Brown, a senior here at Walkersville High School, was one of those students competing. She competed for the State Acting Scholarship, which is given out to one student per year as a reward for supreme dedication to acting and theater both on and off the stage. In addition to competing for this scholarship, Brown also starred in the one act that Walkersville Theater presented, and was a Senior State Thespian Officer, meaning she helped arrange the entire festival.
“I volunteered about once a month for four or five hours a day, planning the theme, planning the workshops, planning everything about Festival” Brown said, referring to what exactly it is that an STO does. It was effort like this off the stage that inevitably tipped the balance in the race for the scholarship, rewarding Brown’s long days and long nights.
In addition to her work off the stage, the scholarship was also judged based off of Brown’s talents on the stage. “I performed two monologues, one from Much Ado About Nothing, and one from a comedic one act called What the Well-Dressed Girl is Wearing” she said of her audition choices.
The scholarship was given out on the final day of Festival, during the commencement ceremonies. After being named the scholarship winner, Brown and her mom, who was also in attendance, were understandably emotional. “I didn’t really think about it too much because I was just too in shock” said Brown about her feelings immediately after learning she’d won. “I never really thought I was good enough to win, or even really be considered for it. There were a lot of really talented students there who I was competing directly against. It was such an honor.”
Brown was also given a scholarship to Rowan University worth $32,000, which is given to only 10 students a year nationally.
And don’t worry, the (Well deserved) praise isn’t going to Brown’s head; she’s still as humble as ever. When asked who she’d like to thank, this was Brown’s response; “I would like to thank Mrs. McFadden, for giving me so many wonderful opportunities and all of the service opportunities she’s given me off the stage, because I think that really helped me get this scholarship. And I’d like to thank her for everything she’s taught me. I’d also like to thank all of my friends for always supporting me, especially Chris Copen, for being uglier than I am, which really boosts my confidence,”
I have got to share the stage with Becky for the past seven years, and it’s been an honor every step of the way. Sometimes in the world of acting, people don’t get the respect and the credit they deserve for the hard work that the audience doesn’t get to see. You, as an audience member don’t always get to see the subtle character work during rehearsals, the choices and decisions an actor makes for their character, the help they do for the department off the stage. In the end, it’s my belief that it’s the little things that make the biggest actors, and Becky Brown may be one of the biggest actors that there is. I can’t imagine a more deserving person for this award, and I am beyond happy to know that ITS, and many many others, agree with me.
