Renée Veronica Freeman, 25, a Jacksonville University graduate, has come home, so to speak.
A traveling production of “Dreamgirls” comes to Jacksonville May 21 at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Moran Theater, and Freeman performs as a featured Stepp Sister.
Folio Weekly this week has a nice write-up on Freeman, who is also the understudy for lead character Deena Jones.
Freeman, born in Monrovia, Liberia, fled with her family from West Africa in 1990 and emigrated to Long Island.
“In high school, Freeman, a budding singer, actor and dancer, received a flier in the mail for JU,” the Folio Weekly article states.
Here’s more from the piece by writer Kara Pound:
“I looked into it and liked Florida. I was offered a scholarship for the music theater program, auditioned, got in, and started school in the fall of 2005,” Freeman said.
During her time in Jacksonville, the aspiring actor took every opportunity to improve her craft, including performing in six college musicals and a host of community productions.
“The community is where I found my confidence,” Freeman said. “The people in Jacksonville believed in me and gave me the audacity to dream.”
While at JU, Freeman played the lead role of Sadie Pettway in Players by the Sea’s rendition of “Gee’s Bend” and Ronny in the theater’s production of “Hair.” Freeman also portrayed Taylor McKessie in the Alhambra Theatre & Dining’s “High School Musical.”
Read the entire article at http://folioweekly.com/City-Girl-with-a-Dream,4729