By Tom Jordan
She's elegant, she's smart and she's talented. She's blessed with an infectious smile and a genuine laugh. And she's charming, even over the telephone.
But, perhaps most important in her quest to wear the Miss U.S.A. crown, Dana Powell from Rockville Centre can answer a tough question, fired point-blank, without batting an eye.
"As one of the five finalists in the Miss Massachusetts Pageant," she said, "I was asked the question, 'If you could not win this pageant, which of the four girls behind you would you want to win?'
"That may have been the toughest question I've ever been asked," she said. But Powell was able to play it cool. "I wasn't really all that nervous. I use the energy I get from those situations positively. It's kind of a rush."
How does a young woman from Rockville Centre, who was born in Brooklyn, become Miss Massachusetts 2001? Powell attends Emerson College in Boston, which qualified her to compete for the Miss Mass title. She took the tiara on Nov.18.
She'll represent Massachusetts in the Miss U.S.A. Pageant, on the golden anniversary of the event, in Gary, Indiana on Feb. 29. The pageant will be broadcast on CBS to homes across the nation.
The Miss U.S.A. Pageant is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The winner of the Miss U.S.A. Pageant will compete for the Miss Universe title in Puerto Rico in May.
No stranger to pageants, she was in three junior contests as a child, Powell is preparing to be radiant for the cameras. She's having a gown designed by Jessica McClintoch, and of course, there is the matter of the bathing-suit competition, which will be viewed by several million people. Heartbeat Records of Massachusetts and New York-based Royal Carribean Bakery are sponsoring her.
At Emerson, a four-year communications and performing arts college college, Powell is nearing a degree in broadcast journalism, but isn't entirely sure that she will pursue a career in the field. She isn't exactly sure what she'd like to do after graduation.
"That's the million dollar question, and I've been asking it of myself a lot," she said. "I have a lot of interests, such as philosophy and theology, and I'm not sure which one to pursue. I'm confident that I'll figure it out, though."
The Powells -- Dana, her older sister Kiesha, younger brother Casey and their parents -- moved to Rockville Centre from Brooklyn in the early 1990's, when Dana was in eighth grade. She went to South Side High School the following year, where she became a member of the Drama Guild.
She refused to say which teacher was her favorite, but acknowledged that social studies teacher Goldie Seiderman had a special place in her heart.
Powell may be remembered for her performance in the show "Vanities," the story of three friends set over a ten-year period, beginning the day John F. Kennedy was assasinated in 1963 and into the '70's. Powell's character returns as an unhappy, materialistic woman. It provides an interesting contrast to Powell's grounded outlook.
Her life, particularly her family life, has changed very little, if at all, since she became a beauty queen. Kiesha has graduated college and works as a C.P.A. Casey is a junior at South Side. Her parents still live in the same Rockville Centre home. Not even her friends at school are jealous of her brains and beauty.
"They're all very supportive," she said. "Ironically, there are about a half-dozen girls at Emerson who won major titles this year."
Nor did her fling with the theatre give Powell a star mentality. "Acting was a middle school and a high school thing," she said. "It's fun, and it fits with some of the other things I like to do, but it isn't my dream or anything."
But succeeding current Miss U.S.A. Lynette Cole in wearing the crown would be a dream-come-true.
