| | UAHuntsville Liberal Arts student recipient of prestigious theater fellowship(11/03/2008)
Rebecca "Becky" Purcell was born for the entertainment business. Her mother was pregnant with her onstage during the musical performance of the Pajama Game."I've always been interested in both performing and working backstage. I don't think I could be happy doing anything else," she said. Purcell a senior sociology major with a minor in theatre at UAHuntsville is the recipient of a prestigious theatrical fellowship at West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, W. Va. She will graduate from UAHuntsville in December. Purcell, born and raised in Huntsville has been attending UAH off and on since 1999. "Thanks to my husband's support I have been able to attend full time in order to finish my degree." Preparing for a career after graduation, she began theatrical auditioning a few weeks ago. "I went to North Carolina to audition for a number of schools at one time in one setting. It's an annual offering arranged by the SouthEastern Theatre Conference, and 12 schools were looking for actors," Purcell explained. "I was fairly certain I had not done well, and didn't expect callbacks from any of the schools. I was wrong. I received callbacks from half of them. I was so happy I nearly cried … I was in shock for the rest of the weekend, but very honored." Purcell said her fellow competitors were tough and talented. "There were over fifty students attending, and though I'm an older, non-traditional student, these were actors who were coming in with practice. The auditions were literally cattle call in style, and the process was very stressful. We were given only a minute and a half to wow the audience who, by the way, are analyzing you at the same time," she explained. Her award package from WVU includes a three-year master of fine arts program. "WVU only accepts six to eight students every three years instead of every year," she said. "I will receive a full tuition waiver, and a stipend. This will include insurance, and they have even offered to help my husband find work. I'd love to be able to come back after completing my MFA and work with David Harwell (lecturer in Communication Arts) at UAH … so we'll see how it goes. "David is an amazing man – he made if possible for me to do something I didn't think I could do, and he has done everything in his power to help me recognize myself as a talented, successful, person. David has made a huge impact on my life and I can't thank him enough," she said. Purcell is also a work-study office and research assistant in the UAHuntsville Sociology Department. And, she serves as President of the Student Sociological Association. "Since I'm a work study student in Sociology, it's great to be able to bounce my ideas off faculty and staff …they're very supportive and open to discussion. I've had a very difficult year, and they've all been amazing and have kept encouraging me to do my best." She plans to combine the fields of theater and sociology to further her career, "as they both involve the study of people and society. It won't be hard to do, because they're actually extremely comparable fields," Purcell explains. "The research knowledge and the ability to see culture and society for what it is will help me to be a better performer onstage and a better observer offstage. Purcell has worked onstage and backstage in community theatre since she was a child, but she says her favorite roles are ones she has done recently. "I performed as Sir Toby in The Shakespeare on the Mountain production of Twelfth Night, and I even fooled some of my family dressed as a ‘drunken uncle,"' she said. "I also portrayed a disabled woman in the world premiere play Four Spirits. It was tough keeping my legs perfectly still in a wheelchair during the performances. Four Spirits, Sena Jeter Naslund's 2003 novel about the civil rights era in Birmingham, was dramatized and received its world premiere as a fully staged play at UAHuntsville last February. Four Spirits relates to the four young black girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins) killed in the Birmingham church bombing in September 1963. When it comes to Purcell's family, entertaining runs deep. It's almost as if the Sister Sledge 70s rhythm and blues hit We Are Family was penned just for her kin. "My mother (Linda Wood Turner, scheduling assistant in the University Center) is locally well known as a great blues singer, and truly has a voice that can bring the house down. She and my stepfather, and my brother and myself are all in a band together with four close family friends, The Turner Family Band," she said. "We play at local events (private and public) around the city. Mom and my dad, as well as other family members, have also been involved in theatre in the North Alabama area. Even my stepfather, a couple of uncles and my husband work as stagehands through the local International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees union," she said. Purcell said in the future she is looking forward to portraying characters in more demanding roles, especially ones that challenge parts women typically play. "I really want to be able to expand my skills and grow as an actor, because the chance you have in front of an audience is like no other. You have an opportunity to mold them … to hold them in the palm of your hand, and through your performance prompt them to cry or laugh. Any acting roles that allows me to be better at my craft are ones I want to embrace, she said." For more information: Joyce Maples, (256)824-6414 |
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