FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – This weekend, kids at the YMCA of South Florida’s Teen Broadway program are going to show off their skills.
From production to acting, these teens are doing it all and it’s helping them build confidence at the same time.
There is no stopping these kids who say this program has changed their lives.
For the sixth straight year, kids ages 5 to 15 will put on a full-scale performance through this literacy program.
They practice for hours and when you see their show this weekend, you’d think they’ve always been pros.
But to get this confidence, it took some time and help from program director Sharon Hughes.
“We’re the village. What my job is, when you fall, we help you up, brush you off and put you on that path,” Hughes said. “It’s OK to fall. It’s how you get up.”
Hughes helps these future stars through the YMCA of South Florida’s Teen Broadway program.
The literacy program focuses on the arts in assisting and educating students to develop life skills.
“I like to say this has really helped my public speaking skills and being able to speak to people and speak loud enough for people to hear me,” show director Jahziah Defoe said.
“You can really just be yourself around everyone and anyone. It’s a safe place,” actress Azanah Blount said.
“Everybody becomes their own person here,” Defoe added. “Sometimes someone will start out a little shy, but then at the end of the production, they become happy and more outgoing and speak to more people.”
The Teen Broadway program is about more than putting on an original performance. It allows the youth the opportunity to express themselves openly without judgement.
“For whatever reason, they have been told to be seen and not heard. So when they come here, we have to tell them, ‘No, you can be heard, because we want to hear what you have to say because you matter,’” Hughes said.
And this weekend, they get to show off what they’ve learned with this year’s performance, called “Snowy and the Seven Affirmations.”
“It takes place during a homecoming election, like the homecoming dance,” Defoe explained. “Our main character is Snowy and she kind of gets bullied in school, and she doesn’t really feel confident in who she is, but throughout the play, she meets seven affirmations who build her up. With names like Loyalty, Appreciative -- they instill that confidence in her.”
Blount said she connects with her character.
“Growing up, I didn’t really see anyone else with locs, so I just felt different and I was kind of sad about it. I was like, ‘Oh, why can’t I have hair like everyone else.’ Now I love my hair,” Blount said.
You can catch the show this weekend at the Victory Black Box Theatre in Fort Lauderdale. Performances start at 1 p.m. and tickets are less than $20.
Click here for ticket information.