Virginia Children's Theatre AwardS Scholarships To Campbell Duff And Holden White For 2023-2024 Season

The staff and board of Virginia Children's Theatre has announced the recipients of the annual scholarships awarded by VCT. Campbell Duff will receive the Sarabeth Hammond Scholarship and Holden White will receive the ARD Properties Scholarship for the 2023-2024 Season. 

The Sarabeth Hammond Scholarship was created in memory of beloved youth actor, Sarabeth Hammond, whose vibrant life was tragically cut short in December 2016. The Sarabeth Hammond Scholarship is awarded annually to a young theatre artist in honor of the fearless spirit that Sarabeth exhibited when she participated with VCT in classes, productions, or in mentoring younger students. The yearly recipient will be allowed to enroll in as many VCT classes and camps as they desire for the upcoming season, have private coaching sessions with VCT professional artists and also be guaranteed casting in a VCT production.

The ARD Properties Scholarship was created to honor the support and dedication that ARD Properties contributes to VCT, the Roanoke Valley and beyond. Led by John D'Alessandro, ARD Properties fosters a strong sense of community through their outreach and giving back to area organizations. The Scholarship will be awarded annually to a VCT Academy Theatre artist who exhibits a strong sense of service, leadership and dedication to their community. Recipients of the ARD Properties Scholarship will receive complimentary VCT Academy sessions during the school year, one complimentary summer camp session and eight private coaching sessions. The recipient will also be provided with multiple leadership opportunities throughout the season.

Campbell Duff receives the Sarabeth Hammond Scholarship because of her leadership, talent and dedication to Virginia Children's Theatre. Patrons most recently saw Campbell on the VCT stage as Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka, Jr. 

Holden White receives the ARD Properties Scholarship because of his strong commitment to Virginia Children's Theatre. White's hard work, dedication and leadership in the VCT Theatre Academy represents the partnership, legacy and sense of community that ARD Properties has created as a staunch supporter of VCT. 

“We are thrilled to have Campbell and Holden as our scholarship recipients for the 2023-2024 Season,” says Lindsay Tolar, Director of Marketing and Public Relations. “Both Campbell and Holden are hard-working individuals who have shown supreme dedication to VCT. These two outstanding young theatre artists are role models and leaders for our many young actors at VCT. They help us maintain a high level of excellence within our VCT Theatre Academy. It has been a pleasure to watch them both grow over the years and I'm thrilled for these leadership opportunities before them.”

Campbell Duff is honored to be this year's recipient of the Sarabeth Hammond Scholarship and would like to thank the Hammond family, as well as Virginia Children's Theatre for providing this opportunity to continue her passion for musical theatre. 

Campbell is 14 years old and a freshman at Northside High School. From a very young age, Campbell has had a love for performing. She would often dress up as different characters, write scripts (before she could actually write), direct, and perform shows for family members. As a toddler, Campbell looked forward to the church Christmas play each year and was thrilled when she became old enough to play the role of Mary at the age of 3. She was a featured youth member in the church choir for many years and continues to be a featured soloist with the praise band at her church. She has been an active member of choir and drama club since age 9. 

Campbell began participating in camps and classes with VCT in 2015. She made her Kids on Stage debut in 2019 where she played the role of Isir in Aladdin, Jr. Since that time, Campbell's dedication and love of theatre has been showcased in some of her favorite credits including Willy Wonka, Jr. (Veruca Salt), The Secret Garden (Mary Lennox), Peter Pan, Jr. (Wendy Darling) with Virginia Children's Theatre, in addition to Charlotte's Web (Goose) with Mill Mountain Theatre. 

Campbell has been accepted into the Youth Professional Ensemble with Virginia Children's Theatre and Music Theatre Conservatory with Mill Mountain Theatre.  Campbell is also a dedicated student of Brynn Scozzari Studios where she works diligently to learn vocal skills and techniques to refine and enhance her voice.  

Campbell has a passion for performing for young audiences and hopes to provide children with exposure to live theatre where they can learn performance skills and use them as an outlet to explore their own creativity and passion. Campbell's life goal is to break stereotypical casting and make sure the unheard are seen.  

Beyond the incredible support and performance opportunities provided by VCT, Campbell is especially grateful for the amazing circle of friends she has discovered within the theatre community and is thankful for their continued encouragement.  Additionally, Campbell would like to thank her family for their unconditional and unwavering love and support. 

Holden White is a rising 7th grader in Roanoke County Schools. He has most recently had the privilege of performing the roles of Mr. Salt and James in Willy Wonka Jr., Percy the Pirate and Nana in Peter and Wendy, and Tootles in Peter Pan, Jr. Holden enjoys reading, playing video games, and spending time with friends and family in his spare time. Holden would like to thank ARD Properties and Virginia Children's Theatre for this amazing opportunity!

Virginia Children's Theatre (VCT) is an independently owned and operated 501(c)3 organization located in Roanoke, Virginia. VCT is the only professional theatre in the commonwealth of Virginia solely dedicated to youth, schools and their families. VCT produces a variety of high caliber professional literature based musicals, concerts, and issue driven plays each season. These productions are produced in the Roanoke Valley and toured throughout the commonwealth of Virginia. The VCT Theatre Academy provides year-round high-quality music, theatre and dance education for students Pre-K through 12th grade through in-school residencies, in-house classes & camps and outreach across the commonwealth. VCT has a mission to inspire, empower and transform the community through the magic of live theatre!

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