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Westminster Theatre Major Headed to Broadway Theatre Project

Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Tracy Harmon, a Westminster College sophomore theatre and elementary education major from Pittsburgh, was recently awarded a full scholarship to the Ann Reinking Broadway Theatre Project by Ben Vereen.

"I met Ben Vereen backstage before his concert for a Celebrity Series event at Westminster," Harmon said.  "He has been a role model in theatre for as long as I can remember.  At first I was too nervous to approach him, but he stood up and asked me for a hug.  It was one of my favorite moments in my life.  I started to cry.

"We talked for a little while about how much of a fan I am of his and Bob Fosse's work," Harmon said.  "He asked me how old I was and what I was doing this summer.  When I told him I was part of the Cedar Point Raptor roller coaster crew, he asked me to give my information to his assistant.  You never know,' he said." 

Two days later, Harmon was awakened by a call on her cell phone.

"It was Ben Vereen calling me!" Harmon exclaimed.  "He told me that he wanted to send me to the Ann Reinking Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa, Florida, on a full scholarship without an audition.  I was stunned.  It felt like Christmas."

The Broadway Theatre Project is a three-week, intensive musical theatre training programs.  Students, or apprentices as they are referred to in class, attend classes in acting, dance, and voice seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. that are taught by Broadway, theatre, and film professionals from around the world.  Only about 150 students are accepted from around the country.

"It's a camp' to help Broadway hopefuls strengthen and prepare themselves for musical theatre careers," Harmon said.

The program culminates in a performance in the state of the art Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

"I was told that I was one of only three or four persons given this opportunity in the past ten years by Ben Vereen.  It's a big honor," Harmon said.  "I only wish my mother, who was my foundation for my interest in musical theatre, would be alive to hear this great news.  I know she'd be as grateful as I am to Mr. Vereen because she was a great fan of his."

Harmon, a theatre and elementary education major, is a daughter of Jeffrey and the late Joan Harmon, Pittsburgh, and is a graduate of Penn Hills High School.