This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.
If you don’t recognize this name (which would be surprising, because EVERYONE seems to know Richie), then remember it now, because one day, it’s going to be up in lights. Richie Powell is a 21-year old junior here at the University of Kansas, double majoring in Business Administration and Communications. But don’t let his studies fool you. Richie may be getting his degree in Business, but his dreams range from performing his talents, especially singing and dancing, for the world some day. But when did he know he wanted to perform?
“Honestly, it all started when I was just a kid. I would do shows for my mom when I was like four or five, dancing around and pretending to have a microphone. I would hold plays throughout elementary school and all that. I discovered my knack for singing in fourth grade. I got this big ole solo and it was first big thing. My teacher encouraged me to keep singing and I just took it from there.”
Richie has participated in quite a few Student Union Activities events, especially when they’re performance-oriented. He’s done Open Mic Night two times, and took first place his freshman year! But it doesn’t stop there. Richie also participated in KU’s Got Talent for two years and, of course, took first place in that his freshman year as well. On top of his first-place voice, Richie is also a dedicated dancer. He spends a majority of his time now dancing with the premiere Bollywood dance group, KU Jeeva, who will be traveling to Minnesota next weekend and Columbus, Ohio in March for various competitions.
(Here’s Richie’s winning performance at KU’s Got Talent his freshman year!)
After KU’s Got Talent, Richie decided performing wasn’t just a hobby anymore, he wanted to pursue it.
“It kind of branched off from KU’s Got Talent, I started realizing how much I loved doing this. I also performed at Worlds of Fun for two years right after high school, so that was really my start in the performance world. I was in a six-person show, three girls and three guys, and we would perform anything from Broadway hits to pop hits to rock hits. We performed for thirty minutes about five times a day. So after that, I just wanted to keep the performing going. I actually got the opportunity to perform at Kansas City Pride last summer and I had a blast with that. I also performed at the night club Chateau around Halloween with five other people back up dancing while I sang. Currently I have gigs booked at Henry’s Upstairs, Jazzhause, and I’m trying to delve more into the Kansas City scene.”
(Here’s Richie performing at Worlds of Fun!)
Looks like Richie is quite the busy guy. But with big dreams comes hard work and determination, and Richie seems to have a fire inside him that he doesn’t have any intention of putting out. As he mentioned performing at Pride, it brought up Richie’s journey of being an open member of the LGBTQ community at KU.
“Honestly I came out only to my friends at first because I was so worried about what my family would think. My mom is very religious and my dad is kind of an All-American man who loves hunting and fishing and Nascar, you know. It was kind of nerve-racking to have to come out to both of those, even though they’re so different. I came out to my mom junior year of high school and she was okay with me not telling my dad yet. He actually recently found out from a co-worker who knew me through some other people. He basically just said, ‘You can say you’re gay, I have no problem with it at all, it’s fine. I will love you for who you are no matter what.’ Honestly, it was great. The people I was the most worried about telling ended up being the most supportive in the long run. Coming into KU I was open, I’ve been pretty open and myself since high school. I don’t feel like I have to hide myself from people because they’re not the one’s putting dinner on my table, you know? I don’t think I have to worry about what people think of me. Being part of the LGBTQ community here at KU has comforted me so much. People are willing to be themselves in such a conservative state, and it’s really refreshing to be at a university where we’re so diverse and welcoming. I feel very fortunate to be apart of that. We have a great LGBTQ community, and it’s an honor to be apart of that.”
(Richie performing at KC Pride)
It’s amazing to hear the journey of a student like Richie and how KU has helped him grow while being himself. Richie is currently in the process of forming a group to perform around the KC area to raise money for certain charities in the gay community, on top of delving into the song writing world, on top of several other little projects.
Before we parted ways, Richie wanted to give these last few words of thanks to his Jayhawk Fam.
“KU has given me a lot opportunities to branch out into performing. Not just KU, but the city of Lawrence. With Henry’s, Chateau, SUA, and Jeeva I’ve just had so many different performing opportunities that will help shape me into a better performer. KU has definitely helped shape a lot of that, and I’m so grateful.”