Broadway musical "amazing" experience for at-risk children
As part of the All That For Kids summer theatre camp, students performed the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
As part of the 6-week summer program, children took daily classes in music, dance, acting and staging.
"It kept our kids off the street at night," said the father of one student. "That's a good thing during any summer in this city."
"It just goes to show that dreams can come true," said Jim Esposito, N.Y. program director the for summer theatre camp. "Especially in Brooklyn."
NEW YORK – It was a summer of "amazing dreams" for 100-plus children in New York and New Orleans.
As part of the Operation Blessing-supported All That For Kids summer theatre camp program, students in grades 3 through 9 became a "walking work of art" as they took to the stage in colorful costumes to perform the musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
"It was so good," said Peggy Homesly, OBI's child development and education manager. "The kids were so jazzed."
In early June, elementary-age children in New Orleans began rehearsals for the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice production, as well as "From Here to There," an original play created by the ATFK students as part of their acting class.
One month later, students in New York started preparing for their own performance of "Joseph."
Matt Scott, a graduate student of Fine Arts and Acting at Regent University, directed both productions.
"Most of our students have not had many opportunities to perform on stage before," Scott said. "It has been my pleasure to introduce them to the art of drama and the ‘business' of the theatre."
As part of the 6-week summer program, children took daily classes in music, dance, acting and staging.
"The parents were very pleased with the theatre performance," said Schwanell Nichols of the New Orleans Learning Center. "I have heard nothing but positive comments."
In New York, the final performance drew a full-house audience of 300 friends and family members, along with rave revues from parents who saw the theatre camp as a good alternative to riskier summer activities.
"It kept our kids off the street at night," said the father of one student. "That's a good thing during any summer in this city."
Jim Esposito, N.Y. program director for the summer theatre camp, agreed.
"It just goes to show that dreams can come true," said Esposito. "Especially in Brooklyn."
In addition to summer theatre, sports and academic enrichment programs, All That For Kids Learning Centers are open five days a week, offering year-round, out of school help in areas such as reading, math and character education for at-risk children in kindergarten to eighth grade.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: Operation Blessing is helping to transform the futures of children like these by providing clean water, education assistance, nutritional feeding programs, medical care and more.
Please make an online contribution toward OBI's orphan care programs today and help us continue to reach those in need.