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Alonso grad earns prestigious scholarship for Broadway performance

 
Courtesy of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts Alonso High School graduate Emily Escobar, 18, earned the honor of performing on Broadway in New York City through the Straz Center\u2019s Broadway Star of the Future program.\uFEFF
Courtesy of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts Alonso High School graduate Emily Escobar, 18, earned the honor of performing on Broadway in New York City through the Straz Center\u2019s Broadway Star of the Future program.\uFEFF
Published July 8, 2018

At the age of 9, Emily Escobar fell in love with theater while watching her older sister perform.

She dealt with occasional uncertainty, however, wondering if theater should remain a career aspiration.

She began participating in choir, and at Alonso High School, she gained the confidence to join theater. From there she never had another doubt.

"I thought it was the coolest thing," Escobar said. "Not necessarily being on the stage or being under the lights, but being able to communicate a message to an audience that you may have never met before. Through a song, through a scene you can give them this message that's meant to be said to them and I found that so cool."

That passion and confidence, combined with a performance on Broadway during the Jimmy Awards, has earned her a prestigious $3,000 scholarship.

Escobar represented the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in the 2018 National High School Musical Theatre Awards, better known as The Jimmys, a national celebration of outstanding student achievement in theater arts education.

The competition recognized Escobar as one of six finalists. She'll apply the award to her tuition when she enrolls at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts to study musical theater.

Her portrayal as Toffee in Zombie Prom at Alonso High helped her earn the honor of representing the Straz Center at the Jimmys. She showcased her skills during the Straz's Broadway Star of the Future Awards showcase held on June 4.

Escobar, 18, spent a week working with professional directors, writers, music composers and producers such as Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote for the musical Dear Evan Hansen, and Howard McGillin from Phantom of the Opera.

She cherishes this experience she calls an opportunity of a lifetime and credits the opportunity for preparing her to take a leap of faith in her chosen career.

"It was unexpected, but I'm very honored to have been chosen," Escobar said.

"It was so surreal. The second I walked onto the Minskoff Theatre stage, my heart was beating so fast. I was so happy. So having a full circle moment like that, I almost cried."

This opportunity started with the Straz Center's Broadway Star of the Future program, which aims to engage local families and community members in a celebration of educational theater and provide experiences and opportunities for local high school students and faculty in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties with the best musical productions of the year.

Suzanne Livesay, the Straz Center's vice president of education, said they recently restructured the awards to regionalize it more so that more local students would be represented in the Jimmy Awards, and Escobar's achievements confirmed they did the right thing.

"That's our goal, that these kids will get notoriety, scholarships or even this kind of acclaim, so we're really excited to see this come to fruition," Livesay said.

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"She had the poise, the professionalism, and the consistency that we were looking for and she's just an amazing performer in general."

Contact Monique Welch at mwelch@tampabay.com.