Several young performers will have a chance to shine in Branson this December.
Students of the Sondra Burden School of Performing Arts will be polishing their acts for a holiday trip that will showcase their talents. On the trip, which will take place Dec. 4 through 6, the group will take part in different performances, including an appearance with the Twelve Irish Tenors at the Branson Variety Theater, a selection of Christmas songs and an appearance in Cathy Rigby’s Peter Pan at the Mansion Theater.
Students of the Sondra Burden school have been performing in Branson for more than five years, and have become a popular attraction in the city known for its theaters and variety shows.
“They did say we were their top performers as students,” Burden said of being asked to return to the variety theater for a Christmas show. “We’ve been down there kind of working up to this, so it’s exciting.”
So exciting that the show already has sold out, Burden said.
The students from Burden’s senior group range in age from 11 to 23. All of them enjoy the work that goes into singing and dancing and are willing to go where their talent takes them.
“They’ve had to work for it,” Burden said. “They get pretty good. The kids have gotten better than some of the performers in Branson.”
The routines the group performs involve singing and choreography, and Burden works to make sure each student shines in his or her own special way.
“Each performer has their own special quality, and Sondra wants to incorporate what she wants in her show, but at the same time that one little niche that we have that we all enjoy in our music, she tries to incorporate that, too,” said Justin Richardson, 17.
“Every kid gets their moment in the sun,” Burden said, “but behind the scenes they’re performing and working as a team.”
The students have become such good performers that their performance is being developed into a four-state tour that will take place in the spring. Dates and venues are still being set, Burden said, but the group will start at Branson and then go to Denton, Ark., on to Talequah, Okla., and finally to Denver.
The students all are performers at heart, and they love being onstage.
“When you sing or perform, you show the audience your true self without telling them anything about you,” said Bridgett Hopkins, 13. “You can tell a person’s personality by the way they sing.”
Along with Hopkins and Richardson, the group going to Branson includes Stephanie Cervantes, 14; Victoria Edwards, 17; Noah Williams, 11; Taylor Rich, 12; Geneva Anders, 23, and Delano Mendoza, who is also the group’s senior choreographer.
Members of the group are looking forward to the trip to Branson and the following tour, and whether practicing or performing onstage, they all stick together.
“I encourage them to support each other,” Burden said. “They’re like a family, and so that’s what I try to incorporate with this. We’re all real close.”
• Junior and intermediate students of the Sondra Burden School of Performing Arts will be performing selections from Hannah Montana at 2 p.m. Sunday at the First Congregational Church, 326 W. 12th Ave. The performance will be open to the public, friends and family.
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