Neshaminy Valley Music Theatre awarded scholarship grants totaling $4,000 to two seniors of Neshaminy High School who are planning to study the arts in college this fall.
The two recipients from the Class of 2023 are Marlene Moore of Feasterville and Christopher Simcox of Langhorne.
Neshaminy Valley Music Theatre (NVMT) is a nonprofit scholarship organization that has offered competitive grants since its founding in 1956 to students graduating from the Neshaminy School District and planning to study the fine or performing arts in college. The organization mounts an annual musical, the proceeds from which go into a scholarship fund. Generous donors have also contributed to build the fund. To date, NVMT has awarded more than $169,000 in scholarships to nearly 200 students.
The organization’s 2023 production of “The Addams Family” was presented in April at Neshaminy High School Auditorium. The show featured a cast and crew of more than 30 community members from throughout the Delaware Valley and was directed by Barrymore Award-nominated director/choreographer Stephen Casey.
The NVMT scholarships were announced at Neshaminy’s Class of 2023 senior awards night held on May 25.
Moore received support from NVMT through the Joseph J. McGlade Memorial Scholarship Fund. She will attend Millersville University majoring in secondary English education with a minor in theater. Her vocational goal is to be a drama teacher in the Neshaminy School District.
During high school, Moore participated in marching band, serving as president, the wind ensemble, indoor percussion, the symphony orchestra, concert choir, women’s choir, Neshaminy High School Summer Stock, the drama department, Tri-M Music Honor Society, serving as secretary, and in the high school’s musical theater productions. Moore has a 4.2 GPA, taking honors and advanced placement classes, and is a member of the National Honor Society.
Simcox received support from NVMT through the Evelyn McClean Memorial Scholarship Fund, named after the founder of the music theater. His vocational goals include performing professionally so that he may, as he notes, “shed light on problems that affect the world and to help others grow, learn, and become better humans through theater and art.”
While applying for college admission, he was granted 17 auditions at various universities that have specialized programs in theater and was accepted in at least 11 programs. Simcox will major in musical theater at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
He has been involved with every Neshaminy High School musical and drama show throughout his high school career, as well as numerous non-scholastic productions, including an off-Broadway production in New York City. He was a member of the youth chorus in Neshaminy Valley Music Theatre’s production of The Music Man in 2016.
He joins his mother who, as a Neshaminy graduate, also received an NVMT scholarship.
The application process for 2024 scholarships, open to graduating seniors of Neshaminy High School, will be available next spring.
NVMT will announce its spring 2024 production later this summer. Auditions will be held in the fall.
For information on Neshaminy Valley Music Theatre and its scholarship program, visit nvmt.org, or email nvmt@verizon.net or call 215-860-1584.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
