At the tender age of 3, Stephanie Consiglio made a bold prediction.
Dazzled by a performance of the “Christmas Spectacular” at Radio City Music Hall, the Queens preschooler declared to her mother that she would one day dance on that very same stage.
“For years, I was telling myself that I was going to be a Rockette,” says Stephanie, now a Glendale seventh- grader. “When I turned 18, I was going to audition.”
Then came a terrifying cancer diagnosis, last year, at age 11 — and six months of chemotherapy sessions, each lasting as long as eight hours.
Amazingly, Stephanie, who had been taking dance lessons since that trip to Radio City, never missed a dance class.
Sometimes, she even dashed directly from chemo to class. Her dedication caught the eye of a child-life specialist who made a suggestion that would change her life, urging her to audition for an upcoming talent show.
“I was in chemo, looking down at my phone and not really listening [to the specialist],” Stephanie recalls now.
“But when she told me where it was, I literally could not breath,” she says.
“I was shaking. I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ ”
What Stephanie assumed would be a cute presentation in a hospital lobby was actually the 2016 Garden of Dreams Talent Show at Radio City Music Hall — an annual event that helps talented children facing such obstacles as poverty, illness and foster care.
Funded in large part by Madison Square Garden, the Garden of Dreams Foundation — which also awards scholarships and refurbishes children’s hospitals — puts on more than 500 events.
This year’s talent show at Radio City — free and open to the public this coming Monday night — is the biggest event of the foundation’s packed calendar. And for kids like Stephanie, it’s the proudest night of their lives.
Once fearful she would die, Stephanie put on a sparkling dress and gave a stirring performance in which she told her cancer story through agile, expressive modern dance.
Her body seemed to absorb, then triumph over, the blows of illness and fear.
And so what that she had temporarily lost her hair? Her lavender dress had a matching headscarf, designed by Radio City’s own costume makers.
“I felt confident — because I was still dancing at Radio City,” Stephanie, whose cancer is now in remission, recalls of her turn on the stage of her dreams — a turn she has taken twice, having been invited back to perform a solo at the opening of last year’s “Christmas Spectacular.”
HBO host John Oliver is one of the celebrities scheduled to appear at Monday’s Garden of Dreams talent show, along with Mets pitcher Matt Harvey and actors Ansel Elgort and Steve “Bobby Baccalieri” Schirripa.
Oliver tells The Post that the performances have made him question his own show-business chops.
“I went to the Garden of Dreams Talent Show last year and wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” he says.
“But I was blown away by all the amazing kids looking completely at home on that gigantic stage.
“It was heartwarming, humbling and slightly humiliating to see how confident and talented they were, considering that at their age, I was neither of those things. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’m either of those things right now. It was amazing, and I can’t wait to go back.”
The show isn’t just a performance showcase. It has changed the trajectory of young lives, including that of 12-year-old Bronx resident Manuel Hodgson.
After experiencing facial seizures when he was 9, Manuel found himself logging long hours at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. To cope with his medical issues, he would sing.
A nurse heard that he could carry a tune and suggested he audition for the talent show.
He won the opportunity to stand on one of the city’s biggest stages last year and belt out Whitney Houston’s “On My Own.”
Garden of Dreams also netted him tickets to a performance of “Chicago” on Broadway, plus a meet-and-greet afterward with its star, Brandy.
Bitten by the showbiz bug, he is now attending the prestigious Professional Performing Arts School in Hells Kitchen.
“I don’t think I would be performing unless the nurse had told me to audition,” Manuel says.
He’s now narrating an off-Broadway production of “The Wizard of Oz,” and made it to the last round of auditions for Baby Simba in “The Lion King.”
Another perk? The friends he has made within the organization.
“It’s a huge family, and we’re not afraid to tell each other things. We know it’s a safe environment. We’re not afraid to show our emotions,” he says.
There are enough emotions to go around.
“We use the word inspirational a lot around here,”says Michael Welling of White Plains.
He has seen his 11-year-old son, Matthew, transform from an incredibly sick baby, who on his first birthday was admitted to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he spent 143 consecutive days.
Despite two bone-marrow transplants and countless other treatments, Matthew, who is legally blind, is now a thriving and gifted musician and has sung during halftime at a Knicks game.
Garden of Dreams even arranged for Matthew’s idol, Ziggy Marley, to record a video intro to Matthew’s 2015 talent-show performance.
Matthew sang a reggae-infused song he composed himself, “Sunshine.”
“The thing is, Matthew is never going to the be the captain of the football or baseball team,” his father says. “So this music has given him a chance to have a championship experience. For every one of these kids, this is their World Series.”
He adds, “To me, it felt special because most people don’t get to do these sort of things. It was pretty special, and I lived in the moment.”
In January, Matthew had another reason to sing.
“We celebrated the 10th anniversary of my second transplant, which is a big milestone,” he recalls.
Despite this being a charity, the children still have to audition.
“It’s shocking how amazingly talented they are,” says Heidi Saltalamacchia, whose son Oscar successfully battled cancer as a toddler and has tap-danced his way through two Garden talent shows, including one when he was only 3¹/₂.
Now 11 and healthy, Oscar is dreaming big.
“When I grow up, I want to be a ballet dancer or on Broadway. Either one works for me. I’m flexible,” he says.
“It means a lot to me because I’ve known most of these people since I was 3, and I still know them,” Oscar says of his Garden family.
“My relationship with them has grown.”
He even counts a few celebrities among his support circle, his mom notes.
“It’s interesting to have Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC in your Rolodex, but he’s not my friend. He’s my son’s friend,” Saltalamacchia quips.
“A lot of artists have adversity, and through their art, they overcome it.”
“And that’s the message of the talent show. You get to forget about the awful stuff. You get to focus on art. There’s a lot of waterworks.”
Meredith Carey, another parent, agrees.
“I stock my purse with tissues,” says Carey, whose daughter Giana performed in the talent show last year after a serious blood infection.
Giana, 17, who plays piano and sings, and is enrolled in a course at Bard College, will be part of the alumni choir on Monday, as will fellow alum Stephanie.
“What the Garden of Dreams has done is plant the seed for me to be able to grow,” Giana says, fighting back tears.