by Suzanne Withem, Contributor
TAG is thrilled to announce the six winners of this year’s Annual Scholarship Competition: Ben Adams, Anna Marie Becker, Cheyenne Hanson, Brianna Welna, Jade Miralles, and Esmeralda Moreno-Villanueva
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Ben Adams ($1000 scholarship winner) is an actor, director, set designer, and playwright interested in theatre for social change who is graduating from Burke High School this spring. At Burke, he participates in International Thespian Society, National Honor Society, Ukulele Club, and serves as Drama Club President. Ben has also performed in plays at the Omaha Community Playhouse and is a high school intern at The Rose Theatre. This spring, Ben participated with professional playwrights in the crafting of the “Patchwork Play Project,” which received a public reading at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Ben also wrote Princesses Anonymous, which was fully produced last fall at Burke High School as part of their regular season.

Anna Marie Becker ($500 scholarship winner) attended Brownell Talbot School and Duchesne Academy, from which she will be graduating this spring. She has been accepted to a number of schools – both in and out of state – but has not yet decided where she will go. She has served as a high school intern at The Rose Theatre, volunteered a Munroe Meyer Institute and worked at a number of theatres around Omaha. She is primarily a stage manager, but has also worked as a director and set designer and enjoys working on props, lights, and sound.

Cheyenne Hanson ($500 scholarship winner) will be graduating from Brownell-Talbot school and will be starting the Omaha Community Playhouse Technical Theatre Apprenticeship Program in the fall concentrating on lighting, electrics, and carpentry. In high school, she played varsity golf and basketball in addition to serving as the set designer, lighting designer, or both for Brownell-Talbot’s productions of Shrek the Musical, The Game’s Afoot, and The Addams Family.

Brianna Welna ($500 scholarship winner) is first and foremost a stage manager but also enjoys working as an electrician, and painter. This spring, she will graduate from Bryan High School. Next year, she plans to complete the second year of the Technical Theatre Apprenticeship Program at the Omaha Community Playhouse while taking classes at Metro Community College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This spring, she is serving as Assistant Stage Manager for Calendar Girls at the Omaha Community Playhouse and will work for a second season with Nebraska Shakespeare’s Shakespeare on the Green.

Jade Miralles ($250 scholarship winner) attends Bellevue West High School, from which she will be graduating this spring. Her focus is in acting, though she is also interested in directing and playwriting and has participated in both vocal and instrumental music programs at her high school. She’s a member of Thespian Society at her school and also participated in Pride Players at The Rose Theatre, devising plays addressing LGBTQ+ issues. Jade plans on attending the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Esmeralda Moreno-Villanueva ($250 scholarship winner) will be graduating from Omaha South High School and completing her first year with the Omaha Community Playhouse’s Technical Theatre Apprenticeship Program this spring. Next year, she will continue taking classes at Metro Community College and completing her apprenticeship. Esmeralda’s primary focus is stage management, though she has worked in all aspects of technical theatre throughout her high school and apprenticeship careers.