Spotlight On: Kevin Melendez

Men will go to great lengths to impress a woman, even when it might cost them their future endeavors. Kevin Melendez, a senior theater performance major at Rowan University, experienced this life changing lesson during his freshman year of high school.

“When I was a freshman, I wanted to be a computer engineer,” Melendez said. “However, when my best friend told me that the drama club was holding auditions and the girl I had a crush on at the time would be in there, I said, ‘let’s go.’”

Since that eye-opening situation, Melendez has performed in plays “1776,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “The Last Days of Dr. Jekyll,” which will be performed this November in Westby Hall.

“’The Last Days of Dr. Jekyll’ is going fantastically,” Melendez said. “I play Hyde, which is the part of Jekyll that does anything on a whim. It is really fun to play even though I’m still figuring the character out.”

Melendez has received recognition for many of his roles that he has created. He was most praised for his role as Sweeney Todd at the Victoria Theater in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

“Over the last two years, Kevin Melendez has proved he’s the state’s strongest young musical theater performer,” said Peter Filichia, of the Newark Star Ledger. “Here as Sweeney Todd, he easily retains that crown. With a sneer worthy of Elvis, he simmers through the first act before exploding in the second.”

Melendez has taken many acting classes on and off of Rowan’s campus in order to improve his skills and to help him stay focused. One of the teachers that Melendez most admires is David Sullivan.

“The classes that helped me the most is David Sullivan’s classes,” Melendez said. “I consider him my mentor. I always look up to him and respect him.”

Besides taking acting classes and performing on different productions, Melendez spends his free time photographing images and practicing graphic design.