Henry County youth celebrate performance in annual showcase

I want to bring in Jasmine Anthony, who is the artistic director and founder of the Stage Players Showcase. And the Stage Players is an organization and a program bringing arts to the youth and the young community. First of all, we went to high school together and college, so it's always good to see someone doing their thing. Talk about your inspiration and why you think it's so important to make sure that kids have an outlet in today's society. Okay. Like you said, Eric, we went to high school together and we also went to college together and we did a lot that had to do with theater and performing arts. And it was a great outlet. So as I continued to grow, I saw that there was a need for children to have not only a good outlet, but also an opportunity to have good, stable, quality training. And I realized that in the Henry County area, a lot of children did not have access to this. So that is what made me create Stage Players. Walk us through it. How do kids get involved and what are some of the activities that you guys do to get them ready for the stage? And I feel like it's not just about being on the stage or unlocking, you know, if a kid is shy or a kid needs to express something, that's another outlet that they can do. But what are some of the things that you guys are doing in the program to get them ready? Okay. So we have multiple avenues in our program. We love to go out and provide afterschool acting enrichment classes to different schools locally, but we also provide affordable yet valuable classes to families at our rec centers. So that's very, very exciting. And we also do camps. Anytime the children have a break, we work in affiliation with Henry County Parks and Recs. So literally, If you were to go on their website and look under performing arts, you would see. You'll see stage players there. You can also email us at jasmine at stageplayers.org. And we also have private lessons. So we like to provide a lot to the community. And walk us through Sunday, November 15th. You guys have a showcase. How are you guys getting ready? And what are some of the things that we can expect from the young talent there? I am so so so excited about this showcase. This is an opportunity for children who have been working at their gifts, having opportunities to perform. It's their chance to showcase their talent in front of industry professionals. So maybe a lot of people in Henry County have seen them, but we want them to be able to take the stage to the next level. So we are providing them with the opportunity to have an actor's portfolio with headshots. With their resume attached, and they also are preparing an original monologue and a song. So they get to write their own monologues, which is so amazing. What is something that you took away from this? I know you guys, you're giving so much of yourself to the kids, but being around kids, being around the youth of tomorrow, what are some tidbits or what are some learning lessons that they've taught you? Well, for me, I've always had a dream of transforming the world through the arts, and it's really an opportunity to see that happen through the youth. It's also an opportunity for me to learn how the youth these days operate, you know, with the influence of social media. Sometimes kids are, you know, maturing at a really fast rate. So it helps me keep up and realize what's happening with this upcoming generation and really what they need, like pouring into into them positivity, pouring it into them confidence so even as we do our theater warm-ups and we prepare for the stage we are also doing things that prepare our character our confidence and the way that we interact with the world. All right Jasmine Anthony before you go I'm just going to reiterate one last time there November the 15th that's a Sunday Nash Farm Black Box Theater at four o'clock And we'll put more information on our website and we'll put this interview for those who might want to get their children involved. It's such a great outlet for the youth and can't wait to come and see it. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Have a good one. You too.