BWW Blog: CCT Goes INTO THE WOODS at JTF - Kids' Perspectives

Columbus Children's Theatre's Youth Performance Conservatory has taken its summer show, INTO THE WOODS JR to the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, GA. This star-studded weekend brings together talented theatre kids from all over the country, together with Broadway professionals, celebrities and more for a weekend of adjudication, workshops and fun.

Below, BroadwayWorld brings you an exclusive look at the troupe's journey as they embark on a 5-day adventure.

Here are some thoughts from CCT's INTO THE WOODS JR. troupe:

During our free time this morning, we were walking by the main stage area where the doors were closed and the security was tight. We could hear the roar of Lion King music and voices rehearsing inside. Although they wouldn't let us in, we stood outside in awe for a moment. As we walked away, we spotted a door around the corner that was cracked open. I took four JTF students inside. We sat in the back row - probably 100 rows from the stage and just watched these incredibly talented children sing thier hearts out.

"The magnitude of the room, the kids' voices and harmonies and the music vibrating my bones choked me up. That's where I want to be. This is so overwhelming and exciting at once. Being surrounded by kids who are as passionate about musical theater as we are is amazing." Sadie Porter

"How lucky are we to be able to be a part of JTF? It is huge and exciting and so very special." Becca Moore

"Just thinking about this enormous room being filled with thousands of kids from all over the country is amazing. Seeing the giant displays for the Disney Jr shows feels like Broadway!" Audrey Fouts

This afternoon we all put on our performance shoes and walked through a sea of theater kids to our assigned rehearsal room. The rooms were full of theater groups getting their 30 minutes to rehearse in the space we will all perform in tomorrow. We were hushed and lined up single file by our door. The door guard alerted the group inside that they had five minutes to wrap up. Some of us were hugging and smiliing and others were stoic and silent. We were hustled in the room when it was our turn. Groups were rehearsing in adjoining rooms and we could hear these powerful harmonies and loud well-tuned voices just belting out their songs. It was exhilerating and nerve wracking at the same time. I felt confident though because we are solid and strong. We just had to get through those initial nerves. The idea of having judges sit at what was an empty table today has me anxious. The adjudication is something I'm looking forward to because a professional will give us constructive feedback and may even compliment us on our performance. Their opinion means they paid attention to us and listened to us and can understand our passion. Adults supporting us and giving us their professional perspective just shows they care. And that is special to me. -Amirah Lomax and Angelica Rivera

For more information on the Junior Theatre Festival, visit: http://www.itheatrics.com/junior-theatre-festival/ or https://www.facebook.com/JuniorTheaterFestival

For more information on Columbus Children's Theatre, visit: http://www.columbuschildrenstheatre.org/

Follow their journey on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/JTF614

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