The Dena Kohn Memorial Fund

2009 Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to Talayia Dempsey and Kenneth Washington, winners of full-tuition scholarships to The Theatre Lab's 2009 Musical Theatre Institute for Teens.

Talayia Dempsey is a 17-year-old student from Southeast Washington who attends the SEED Public Charter School. At SEED, a unique public boarding school which serves at-risk young people from DC, Talayia became involved in acting, cheerleading and athletics, and she is on course to graduate from high school in 2010. Talayia has a beautiful singing voice but very little formal training and little access to skill development opportunities outside of the limited resources offered by her school. We are thrilled that she will be in the cast of Side Show this summer under the tutelage of Jane Pesci-Townsend, one of the area’s top performers and the Chair of Catholic University’s Musical Theatre Department. You can see Talayia perform in the ensemble of Side Show August 13-15 at The Theatre Lab.

Kenneth Washington is a 17-year-old student from Northeast Washington who is a vocal performance major at the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. Kenny studied at The Theatre Lab last summer, when he participated in productions of Hair and Parade, and will use his scholarship this summer to take on the role of Archibald Craven in The Theatre Lab’s Musical Theatre Institute production of The Secret Garden (a role originated by Mandy Patinkin on Broadway). Kenny has wowed audiences through his acting and musical theatre performances at The Theatre Lab and, in part because of the training he received last summer, he has received a full scholarship to attend George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts next year, where he hopes to focus on both music and theatre. To compete at a high level in the theatre department, Kenny needs the opportunity to take on a demanding lead role, which he will do this summer under the instruction of Buzz Mauro and Michael Russotto, thanks to the many generous contributors to the Dena Kohn Memorial Scholarship Fund.  Kenny is a wonderful, kind kid—an honor roll student who has mentored youth in his spare time and who we will all be hearing much more from as he transitions into a professional artist. Kenny and his family wish to thank the supporters of the Dena Kohn Fund for making his dream come true this summer. You can see Kenneth perform in The Secret Garden July 16-18 at The Theatre Lab.

The Dena Kohn Memorial Scholarship Fund