Jacob Betts, a member of the Denison University of 2015, from Bryan, Ohio, has been awarded The David Rounds Theatre Prize for the “most promising graduating student in the theatre department.” He was selected for the honor by the theatre faculty and staff and the graduating theatre majors. Betts graduated with a double major in theatre and cinema.
Betts appeared this season as Algernon Moncrieff in “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Scoop Rosenbaum in “The Heidi Chronicles.” In the 2013-2014 season, he appeared in “Middletown,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” Earlier, he played the title role in “Tartuffe,” Duncan in “Theatres of War,” Demetrius in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and Willum Cubbert in “The Nerd.”
A member of Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company, the college’s improvisation troupe, Betts also participated in numerous One-Act Play Festivals presented by the Denison Independent Theatre Association (DITA). He has served as the vice president of DITA and served as treasurer of Theta Alpha Phi, Denison’s chapter of the national honorary fraternity of the theatre arts.
Betts spent the summer of 2012 in the “Acting in Film” program at Yale University, the summer of 2013 in the “Improv for Actors” program with Second City in Chicago, and last summer in the ”Acting Program” at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. In the coming year, he will return to the academy in Los Angeles, enrolled in the Professional Training Program in Acting.
David Rounds was a professional actor and member of the Denison class of 1952. Shortly before his death of cancer in 1983, he endowed The David Rounds Theatre Prize. He made his Broadway debut in “Foxy” and had extensive film and TV credits, including ten years in soap operas. He appeared in many Broadway productions including “Cabaret” and “Chicago.” Rounds received both the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards for Best Supporting Actor of 1980 for his performance in “Morning’s At Seven.”