Celine Held

PENN TWP — When the lights finally dimmed Monday night at the O'Reilly Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh, Celine Held was not one of the winners.

But the teenager who lives at 6177 Brown Road had every reason to walk out with her head held high.

Celine, 15, was one of the 43 finalists from the nearly 850 entrants statewide in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's 10th annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest.

She said this was her third year competing in the contest, and the first time she was a finalist.

"Maybe next year I'll actually be a winner," she said.

Her mother, Belinda, said Celine, who is a freshman at the Vincentian Academy, was the youngest competitor in the upper division of grades 8 to 12. She competed against 12 others in the finals.

In her monologue, she played Juliet, from "Romeo and Juliet."

Her mother said it was courageous that her daughter picked a tragedy to perform.

"She did an amazing job. All the people around us thought she was going to win," said her mother.

The winner was a senior at Upper Saint Clair High School who performed as Cleopatra from "Antony and Cleopatra."

Celine said she got her start in drama through the Old Union Presbyterian Church, where she played one of the wise men in the holiday Nativity play.

"That's when I realized that I could sing," said Celine, who has performed in several musicals, such as "Bye Bye Birdie."