Scholarship Purpose
The Diablo Theatre Company will provide an annual scholarship in Rhoda Klitsner’s name which is designed to help someone follow their own individual professional performance dream.
Scholarship Eligibility
The applicant must be an actor, singer, or dancer (or a combination) who is trying to become a “professional.” This could include, for instance, a performer who is moving, or has moved to New York or Los Angeles to pursue performance as a career, or may include a person who has chosen to matriculate at a performing arts college, studying the arts full-time.
The applicant must be at least 18 years of age as of August of the application year and must reside in Contra Costa County. Preference will be given to applicants who have been involved in the Diablo Theatre Company in some way. Ideally, the applicant would have performed or is performing in a Kids Program, a STARS 2000, or a Diablo Theatre Company main-stage production.
Scholarship Requirements
The applicant will be asked to provide standard personal information as well as a one- to two-page narrative explaining his or her artistic dream, how the dream came about, and how this scholarship may help him or her realize that dream.
Scholarship Application
To apply, please download an application.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact the Diablo Theatre Company office by calling (925) 944-1565 or via email at dloc@dloc.org. |
The Rhoda Klitsner “Follow Your Dream” scholarship fund was established in memory of Rhoda Klitsner, artistic director of the Diablo Theatre Company (formerly the Diablo Light Opera Company). Rhoda, who died April 19, 2003, of multiple myeloma, was the guiding light of the company for 42 years. She joined our company, which had been a Gilbert and Sullivan group, in 1962 as a choreographer for their first Broadway style musical comedy, Brigadoon. Starting with The Most Happy Fella in the fall of 1962, Rhoda began both directing and choreographing most of the shows she was involved in.
The national touring company of the musical Oklahoma!, choreographed by Agnes DeMille, came through Sacramento when Rhoda was a young ballet dancer in training. She was entranced with the show, especially the dancing, and dreamed that one day she would dance in a Broadway show choreographed by Agnes Demille.
After being married to Stu Klitsner on February 3, 1952, the couple took off the next summer for New York in their 1950 Ford convertible to follow her dream. After several years of struggle, Rhoda’s dream finally came true when she was cast by Agnes DeMille in a Broadway show called A Girl in Pink Tights, starring the French singer and dancer, Jeanmaire.
Rhoda and Stu moved to Walnut Creek in the fall of 1957 to raise their family. Rhoda felt so fortunate to have found the Diablo Theatre Company and to have had the opportunity to develop her talent for directing and choreographing. She found tremendous joy in working with the other families involved in the Diablo Theatre Company’s shows, and pride in the artistic achievements of the company. However, she never forgot that one of the reasons she was so content was that she had followed her dream, and so she always encouraged young talent to do likewise.
We know Rhoda would have been very pleased that the contributions of her family and friends, in her memory, helped other young talent to follow their dreams. |
