PHOTO BY CLAUDIA WHEELER-RAPPE / MPW.63
- Tessa Bartlett: Theater of Dreams
- By CLAUDIA WHEELER-RAPPE
- The 63rd Missouri Photo Workshop / Clinton, Mo.
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Tessa Bartlett is a big dreamer in a small town. Barely fifteen, Tessa is already too large a personality for the town of Clinton, where she attends high school and lives with her parents along a country road six miles outside of town: “The best thing about growing up in a small town is that it makes you want to break out even more,” she says. Almost everything about Tessa implies sophistication and maturity: her beauty queen appearance, her insistence on hanging out almost exclusively with seniors, and her dreams of moving to the coast and becoming an actress.
Every morning before school, Tessa spends an hour in front of the mirror, primping her doll-like face to shine throughout her day of classes, tennis, theater practice, and dates with friends. Her biggest dream is to perform on Broadway: “There is something magical about a sold out crowd and performing like you are someone else. It’s like the ultimate adrenaline rush.”***
Tessa Bartlett, 15, looks at herself in the mirror, as she gets ready for school in her home on the outskirts of Clinton, MO, on Wednesday, September 28th, 2011. Tessa wakes up every morning at 5:30 and spends an hour each morning doing her makeup and hair.
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