SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Thanks to hit musicals like "Hamilton" and "Hadestown," many kids are falling in love with musical theater. Some turn to a vocal coach for help. Suzanne Perez of member station KMUW introduces us to a coach in Wichita, Kansas.
SUZANNE PEREZ, BYLINE: "Matilda" is one of the most popular music theater productions featuring children. At a local performance in Wichita, the youngsters charmed the audience.
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UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (As characters, singing) My mummy says I'm a miracle. One look at my face, and it's plain to see.
PEREZ: They sang and danced and brought Roald Dahl's quirky, young characters to life.
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UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (As characters, singing) We are revolting children living in revolting times. We sing revolting songs using revolting rhymes.
PEREZ: That kind of young star power doesn't happen by accident. For many of the children who end up on stages in Kansas and across the country, their journey begins with a basement keyboard.
AMY MENAS: (Singing) Hey.
So it's going to be up here.
PEREZ: Amy Menas is a voice coach to the child stars and kids who dream of stardom. This particular afternoon, she's working with 12-year-old Blair Baeza, who's rehearsing one of her favorite songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In The Heights."
BLAIR BAEZA: (Singing) When I was a child, I stayed wide awake, climbed to the highest place on every fire escape, restless to climb.
PEREZ: Blair, who started voice lessons with Menas about two years ago, has been learning the basics of articulation, posture and breath control. But it's more than that.
BLAIR: Auditions, I'd say, is probably the hardest part of doing music theater just 'cause, like, it's nerve-wracking. Like, she has really built up my confidence, I would say.
PEREZ: Her first professional role was as Lavender in "Matilda," and she'll soon be heading to Kansas City for a holiday show. That means another pin on the map that voice coach Menas uses to keep track of where her students perform. She started her voice studio in Wichita in 2012 and has worked with hundreds of students. One of her first got a main role in the Kansas production of "The King And I." The next summer, at age 12, he dreamed bigger.
MENAS: And so he went to New York and auditioned for "Matilda" and got in the Broadway show. He actually started rehearsal the next day after his audition.
PEREZ: Menas also helps students who want to pursue music theater in college by guiding them through the audition process - for example, working to prepare videos of performances or teaching them how to handle a stage call that might draw thousands of applicants for a few dozen spots.
MENAS: It has a lot to do with a lot of these shows - "Glee," "American Idol," "The Voice." And also, they have so much more access now to seeing musicals.
PEREZ: High school senior Elliot Dyer is already working on one of her college audition numbers, a song called "Fly Away" from an upcoming "Little Women" musical.
ELLIOT DYER: (Singing) To fly away.
PEREZ: Elliot recently won a theater scholarship for her role as the witch in her school's production of "Into The Woods." She says she feels called to music theater.
ELLIOT: Even though I've had a long day, and I'm doing the college stuff, and I'm doing all these things, if I go dance or sing or act, it feels like I can just breathe, and, like, let it all go and have a moment.
PEREZ: Menas has a similar sensation whenever she sees her kids on stage.
MENAS: They soak it in so much, and they love that art form so much and love to tell the stories, but seeing them up on stage is just overwhelming. It's just amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, singing) You're on your way.
PEREZ: And on your way is a good motto for a vocal coach who shepherds kids toward their musical dreams. For NPR News, I'm Suzanne Perez in Wichita.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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