Distinguished alumni lend a hand to Arts Alive
Artistic alumni of Osceola County schools are stepping up to make sure this year’s Arts Alive scholarship winners get a special showcase — even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Why is Arts Alive important? Just ask Broadway’s George Salazar, a 2004 graduate of Gateway High in Kissimmee and winner of the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Award, who was introduced to performing at school.
“The arts programs in Osceola County gave me the outlet I needed to bring that talent out, bring that passion out and gave me the courage to dream up something truly insane and work to make that dream come true,” he tells his 188,000 Instagram followers in a video promoting the Arts Alive scholarships.
An annual visual and performing-arts showcase for Osceola high schoolers, Arts Alive each year shines a spotlight on outstanding student work. It’s presented by the nonprofit Osceola Arts for a Complete Education Coalition, which with the Education Foundation of Osceola County awards college scholarships to artistic seniors. The student showcase also raises money for future scholarships.
Salazar, who starred on Broadway in “Be More Chill” and appeared on NBC’s “Superstore” and The CW’s “Nancy Drew,” was a scholarship recipient. So was Evan Todd, who played the leading man in Broadway’s “Beautiful.” And so was Xavier Cano, who performed in “Grease” on Broadway and toured the country in a 50th-anniversary production of “West Side Story.”
Then there are Juan Berrios, a horn player with Dallas Brass; recording artist Enrique Sanchez; and Angelique Rivera, an actor who has appeared in TV shows, such as “American Crime.”
When the coronavirus shutdown meant the current Arts Alive students wouldn’t get an in-person showcase, organizer Debbie Fahmie knew she had a group of alumni at the ready to lend a hand.
“My heart just broke for these students,” said Fahmie, who helped create the Osceola ACE Coalition 26 years ago. “I wanted to, in some way, make Arts Alive special for them.”
At 7:30 p.m. June 18, an online Arts Alive show will be streamed at Facebook.com/ ArtsAliveACE. In recorded segments, the program’s alumni will introduce this year’s students, whose performances were also recorded.
“The Arts Alive scholarship fund provided me the opportunity to purchase a new flute on which I performed in Eastern Europe, South Africa and the U.S. while in college, won concerto competitions, finished a master’s in music degree and gained some of my first professional jobs as a performing musician,” said Antonio Herbert, a 2009 winner, of the program’s importance.
For Jordan Green, a new graduate of the Osceola County School for the Arts, the online event provides closure to a senior year in which her final high school play, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” had to be canceled.
“This way, it doesn’t end so tragically, with COVID,” she said. Along with writing an essay and being interviewed, the Kissimmee resident performed monologues from George Bernard Shaw’s “St. Joan” and Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” to earn her scholarship. She’ll study acting at Shenandoah University in Virginia in the fall.
“As a student pursuing a career in the arts, it’s an added assurance that, yes, I’m on the right track,” she said of her win. This year, 11 scholarships in fields such as instrumental music, musical theater and visual art were handed out. Through the years, the Osceola ACE Coalition has awarded more than $225,000 to students.
It’s free to watch the student showcase, but donations to the scholarship fund are encouraged.