She earned the honor in early 2020 at the annual Junior Theater Festival, regarded as the largest festival of its type in the world dedicated to education, but was delayed due to pandemic. It was worth the wait for Brown.
“It would’ve been exciting two years ago, but what we went through was something we never thought. It was a struggle, but we’ve recharged and gotten new insight into things that changed,” she said.
The six participants did several workshops and teaching intensives at Musical Theatre International including a special master class led by Jeff Calhoun, a Tony Award-winning director and choreographer. One of the highlights was helping with the pilot of “Beetlejuice Jr.” with several kids including two of the Youth Arts Ambassadors (YAA), V Hagenbuch and Evie Oehlers, studying at the ITheatrics Summer Academy. Brown and her colleagues got to offer insights and critiques on the show.
“It was great to see and support these girls as they learned the show,” Brown said.
For Brown, this came in the midst of the seven-week Summer Arts Festival. She arrived home from New York at midnight on July 18 and had to be in Veterans Park where she, Hagenbuch and Oehlers were ready to begin rehearsals later that day for the Youth Arts Ambassadors production of “Heathers the Musical: High School Edition” prior to Wednesday’s showtime.
While it has been a lot, it’s what Brown loves doing. She will use the knowledge gained such as using virtual components for things such as auditions or to help kids who can’t attend a rehearsal in-person, choreographing rehearsals and new show ideas.
While Brown can catch her breath for a few days now that the Summer Arts Festival is finished, it’s right back to work as the YAA will present a live onstage dinner theater event in Veterans Park on Aug. 6 and have rehearsals for a performance of “Mary Poppins” scheduled for October.
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