Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, together with presenting sponsor, The Children’s Trust, announce the winners of Young Talent Big Dreams, the most widespread local youth talent contest in Miami-Dade history. A marathon of semi-finals and final competitions for student performers ages 8-17 was held at the Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre this past weekend. Participants competed for prizes ranging from master classes, public performance opportunities and cash awards to free tickets to local attractions and shows. The contest featured a total of seven categories including individual song, dance, spoken word and musical instrument, and group categories, including: dance, musical groups and instrumental groups with vocals.
The semifinals and finals were held before a live audience. Each act was allotted up to one minute during their preliminary audition performance, and was given two minutes for the semifinal and final-round performance. Two contestants in each performance category from each preliminary audition location competed in the semifinals and three contestants in each category in the semifinals advanced to the finals. A winner in each category and an overall winner were selected.
Young Talent Big Dreams contest winners include:
- Patrick Barham,12, Individual Musical Instrument and Overall Grand Prize Winner
- Biana Pinchuk, 8, Individual Vocal
- Denise McArthur,15, Individual Spoken Word
- Allondra Gonzalez,13, Individual Dance
- Nicole Elias,17, Christopher Garriga,15, Santiago Olaguibel,16, Fernando Ferrarone,15, Ryan Slatko, 17 and Miguel Fernandez,17, of the Blue Money Jazz Sextet, Group Instrumental with Vocals
- Gabriella and Sabrina Martinez,12, Group Musical Instrumental
- Sabrina Almedia,10 and Kimika Popowski,11 of Tap That Beat, Group Dance
Over a period of six months, hundreds of contestants attended six preliminary auditions in distinct geographic neighborhoods throughout Miami-Dade, including the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, the Joseph Caleb Auditorium in Miami; the Mary Ann Wolfe Theatre at FIU in North Miami; the Wertheim Performing Arts Center at FIU in west Miami-Dade; ArtSouth Sanctuary Theatre in Homestead; and the Byron Carlyle Theater in Miami Beach.
“It was an amazing conclusion to a year of planning, hard work and collaboration throughout Miami-Dade County,” said Modesto E. Abety, President and CEO of The Children’s Trust. “We are inspired by all the young talent and dedicated parents we’ve met along the way and look forward to providing many more opportunities to young people through this competition next year.”
Young Talent Big Dreams followed the popular TV talent show model. Judges have included a host of local celebrities and professionals from the performing arts community. Semifinal judges included Kelly Craig, TV and Radio personality; Howard Cohen, Miami Herald columnist; Dr. Julie Silvera, internationally acclaimed Jazz vocalist; Barbara Flaten, Carbonell Award-winning dance choreographer; and Charles Reskin, trumpeter and composer. Judges for the finals included Kevin Mahogany, internationally renowned Jazz vocalist; Barbara Singer, one of the founders of the Miami City Ballet and the Assistant Dean for Academic Support at St. Thomas University; and Alfred Gershfeld, maestro for the Alhambra Orchestra and New World School of the Arts. Actors’ Playhouse Musical Theatre for Young Audiences Director Earl Maulding served as the official emcee at each event.
“Actors’ Playhouse is thrilled by the overwhelming success of our Young Talent Big Dreams talent contest. It was clear by the enthusiasm of the contestants and their families that this opportunity meant a great deal to them personally by giving them the chance to showcase their talents to the community,” said Barbara S. Stein, Executive Producing Director Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. “The judges had difficult decisions to make since the overall talent in the semi finals and finals was exceptional in all categories. We are proud of the contestants, all of whom are winners. Actors’ Playhouse is also proud of our partnership with The Children’s Trust, the presenting sponsor of Young Talent Big Dreams, who allowed us to create this wonderful event.”