Meet Bevin Prince, performing arts student and “One Tree Hill” cast member

Bevin Prince, from Raleigh, North Carolina, is working toward an M.F.A. in performing arts from SCAD Savannah.

Article By: Piper Hale
Published: Nov 16, 2011

Bevin Prince started acting in musical theater in high school and later got her big break in television as a recurring character on “One Tree Hill.” From there, she was launched into parts on shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “House: MD” and into roles in films, including Darin Scott’s “Dark House.”

Her appearance in these films and shows resulted in the appearance of several fan websites devoted to covering all things Bevin, from her newest hairstyle choices to conjectures about her future roles and romantic prospects. While Bevin is perplexed by the interest in her personal life, she says, “The fact that they want to know what my next project is and they take the time to put these stills up blows my mind, and it makes me work harder. I don’t want to let anybody down.”

Bevin has met many of her fans in person at signings and charity events. “The ‘One Tree Hill’ fans are great,” says Bevin. “They are the most dedicated fans you will ever have in your entire life. They live and breathe the show and they’re so invested in you. It’s really neat to see them face-to-face.”

As Bevin’s fame grew in the wake of “One Tree Hill,” she found herself working in more and more challenging roles. She had never received formal training as an actor, and decided the best way to prepare for these more advanced roles would be to pursue acting in a graduate program. She chose SCAD for the collaboration between the performing arts department and other programs, especially film. “I knew that a lot of the students here will be the people that I’m employed by one day,” she says.

Since beginning her graduate studies at SCAD, Bevin says she has developed confidence in her acting and has cultivated the skills needed to pursue the ambitious roles she wants. “Andra Reeve-Rabb was the head of CBS for years, and we get to do an auditioning class with her,” says Bevin. “Had I had that before I’d gone to L.A., it would have been a different experience for me. I don’t think a lot of the students know yet how fantastic and how relevant what they’re being taught is, and how much it’s going to help them.”

These other students in the program have become a major source of support for Bevin. “They are family to me,” she says. “When you jump, you have a good safety net right here. Right now I am fearless to go and do an audition. It isn’t a terrifying experience anymore where I could fail. Instead, it’s a really fun chance for me to showcase the facets of myself that I have been able to explore in this program.”

These newly explored talents include live theater, improvisation and even dance. She has also acted in several student films, which she says have been valuable experiences. “I’m so impressed with the professionalism of the undergraduates and the graduates,” says Bevin. “I’ve worked on a lot of films that weren’t as professional as the ones the SCAD students are making.”

Bevin doesn’t graduate for another year, but she is already working on her thesis, a play she will write and direct. The play is based on unsent letters, which she collected from her blog readership.

After she graduates, she plans to continue working in television; she hopes to expand into less familiar genres, especially comedy. She now feels much more prepared to tackle these new challenges. “SCAD has changed my life, my work and is clearly going to change my future,” says Bevin. “I’m so excited to be able to get back to L.A. and get back to work knowing what I know now with the support and the foundation that I have from being here at SCAD.”

As anyone who has been on here recently knows Bevin directed and produced her first play, “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot” by Jose Rivera. The last showing was last night Friday the 13th and I was lucky enough to be able to make my way to Savannah to catch the showing. It’s a story about an Army wife and the internal struggles she has with her and her husband’s relationship. You don’t need to be in this type of relationship to understand the play, it speaks to every relationship, the conflicts and the struggles are real even if you aren’t in their situation.

The actors were phenominal, it was clear they all had poured themselves into these parts and the emotion and intensity made you sit on the edge of your seat. The relationships were so real and so relatable that I feel like I now know and understand these fictional people. The anger each character expresses is justified and even if you see yourself siding with one more than the other it doesn’t matter because they both feel they are right. The whole play is a couple’s argument and it plays out as beautifully as a dance. After the show I spoke with other attendees and it became quite clear that this is one of, if not the best, SCAD show they had ever seen. People were left talking, analyzing, and taking apart the show that had just played out. Everyone involved was very proud of what they had put together and rightly so.

“References to Salvador Dali Make me Hot”

The critically acclaimed References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot takes to the stage this week in Savannah. As the name alludes, it is a surrealistic, tumultuous, romantic, rhythmic, and sometimes lascivious theatre piece by contemporary playwright and Oscar nominee Jose Rivera.

It is a heartbreaking tale of the wayward marriage of Benito and Gabriela, a young Hispanic couple living in the Barstow, California desert. Presented by SCAD Performing Arts MFA Candidate Bevin Prince as her masters thesis work, References will open on Wednesday, April 11th at the Jepson Center for the Arts and run for three shows.

The play is Prince’s directorial and production debut. The North Carolina native is a second year graduate performing arts major whose credits include SCAD’s Almost Maine, Hair, and La Traversee, in addition to guest starring roles on TV’s House and Desperate Housewives.
She is best known for her longstanding guest role (as Bevin Mirskey) on the series One Tree Hill.

“My career in television provided beneficial acting experience and exposure,” says Prince.

“But I have newfound a home in theater, thanks to my education at SCAD. Through coursework and time spent with colleagues and professors, I have been awakened to a different style of acting.”

This professional reawakening was sparked in large part by a reading of Rivera’s References last fall. Wholeheartedly inspired, Prince launched a Kickstarter campaign in February to help fund the production. The campaign was successful, with more than $6,000 raised by 81 donors in support of the play.

“References to Salvador Dali absolutely captivated me,” she explains.

“The story is powerful and resonates with anyone who has ever been in love. That feeling of understanding, that universality, is why I wanted to bring this play to the stage and I’m completely humbled that I have the chance to do so.”

To be sure, References is not to be taken lightly. In characteristic Rivera fashion, the story is spun through alternating sequences of dreams and reality, poetry and prose.

Though it’s never clear which state more accurately foreshadows the couple’s future, the magical–realism ofReferences lends itself to an heightened emotional experience — their mutual pain is afflicting; memories of their love–drunk youth are infectious; and the disconnect between the two extremes is ubiquitously internalized.

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot was published in 2000 as Rivera’s 15th play. He hails from Puerto Rico and, as is true for References, his body of work largely reflects his Latino heritage.

He is best known internationally for Marisol and Each Day Dies with Sleep, which have been translated into seven languages. He’s also recognized for his screenplay adaptation of Che Guevara’s memoirs for the silver screen inMotorcycle Diaries.

“The play is sad but is also fantastical, comedic, and tender,” says Prince. “It is a mediative statement on the loneliness that can exist between two people. But it as much about understanding yourself as it is understanding the one you love.”

Benito (played by Matt O’Boyle) has just returned from a tour of duty. He is struggling to balance a soldier’s sense of self–isolation and loneliness in post–war assimilation against the responsibilities of a husband — lover and companion — returned home to a disenfranchised and emotional wife.

His pain is masked by a veneer of insensitivity, impatience, and sexual aggression that leads whimsical and romantic Gabriela (as performed by Elizabeth Byland) to further ponder the navigability of her marriage and her future.

Meanwhile, the bewitching young bride is hotly pursued by an anthropomorphic, sweet–talking moon and an amorous young neighbor boy.

A similarly hot–tempered affair ensues between the couple’s cat and a native coyote as the play unfolds between scenes in the kitchen and garden.

“At the end of the day, it would seem that men are from Mars and women are from Venus,” says Prince.

“It is a never–ending tale of desperation and redemption, in this case complicated by the effects of time, war, and distance.”

“I cannot wait to see it come alive on stage.”

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot

When:  7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, April 11-13

Where: Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 W. York St.

Admission: $10 at the door, or $5 with valid student identification

Info: savannahtheatreproject.com

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Is acting something that you always wanted to do?

I have always wanted to perform! My mother is a singer and our house was always filled with performance. I think I really wanted to be a dancer but realized my talent fell short, literally, when I fell in from of the school in a 7th grade dance show. I then decided to try acting. 

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We are raising money to produce the play References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot in Savannah, Georgia. The community of Savannah is dedicated to artistic expression, however, there is a lack of theatre presence in the area. By collaborating with other artists who are generally foreign to the theatre, we endeavor to provide for Savannah a cathartic artistic experience, with theatre as unifying force. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to another theatre production in Savannah in need of funding, in the spirit of “pay-it-forward”. Similarly, once that production concludes, they too will “pay forward” a portion of their ticket sales to another theatre production. This model provides unending support for local theatre productions and, therein, shares the magical experiences of theatre throughout the greater Savannah community.