Help Ben Attend The National Theater Institute
Hi, my name is Ben Friesen, and I’ve recently been offered the opportunity to be one of just 35 people in the world to attend this semester at the National Theatre Institute at the O’Neill Center! This dream has been over four years in the making, ever since I found out about NTI while competing as a Freshman at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
I’ve had the pleasure of performing in the southwest suburbs of Chicago for almost as long as I can remember. Over the past ten years, I’ve grown so much as an actor, director, writer, singer, and violinist, and I’m thrilled to be able to take those skills to the next level!
NTI is a semester-long training program designed to be a launchpad for artists into the industry, who in the past have included John Krasinski, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Olsen, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, just to name a few. Over the 14 weeks, I’ll take courses in Directing, Acting, Design, Movement, Voice, and Playwriting from 9am until 10pm, 7 days a week. Due to its location in Waterford Connecticut, I’ll also have the opportunity to take frequent trips to New York City to see Broadway shows, and I’ll have a 2-week residency in London!
Of course, such a competitive and incredible program doesn’t come without a cost. The original cost of the semester was close to $30,000, which felt pretty unattainable at first, given that NTI doesn’t accept federal loans. After deferring my acceptance from last spring to this fall, I was able to secure two new jobs that really helped me along my way. Then, after anxiously awaiting a response from NTI’s admissions, I found out that I was granted a scholarship that suddenly putting my goal within reach!
Since then, I’ve continued working a full-time job and two part-time jobs seven days a week in the hopes that I could close that gap. NTI broke down the remaining balance into four payments: One of those has been paid for, one of those is sitting in my bank account ready to be transferred, and I’m well on my way to my third payment. However, since I leave for NTI in mid-September, I will likely be short of that fourth payment, as well as my books and travel. That last payment is due October 15, so I could really use your help!
In the meantime, I’ll continue working two jobs to finish off that third payment. I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve gotten throughout this journey already, and I greatly appreciate any donation to help me with this next step!
All donations will go directly to fund my NTI experience. For more information about NTI, feel free to visit their website at nationaltheaterinstitute.org/nti.
