The moment before the music begins is never truly quiet.
Backstage at the Junior Theater Festival (JTF) in Atlanta, the world’s largest musical theater event for students, young performers stretch, whisper reminders and steady their breathing.
The festival brings together over 130 teams and thousands of students, and Keller-based Time to Shine Performing Arts’ journey was defined by a single word: resilience.
When the going gets tough
Within hours of landing in Atlanta, one student was diagnosed with Flu B and rushed to urgent care. Then, on the morning of the competition, one of the team’s strongest singers woke up with no voice at all.
With the performance scheduled for that night, the team had to pivot instantly.
The student with Flu B rehearsed in a mask until the second she stepped onstage to protect her teammates.
Moments before the performance, in the JTF warmup room, the team made a shift for their voiceless member. She would still take the stage to act out her role, but a teammate stood directly beside her to deliver her lines aloud.
This resilience was no accident; it was a skill cultivated through months of focused training.
“[When rehearsing], I make changes to the show all the way up to the performance,” founder and Director Trisha Baughman said. “That takes a certain level of intelligence, commitment, dedication and passion [from our students].”
Time to Shine Performing Arts team warming up before JTF performanceTraining for the unexpected
Time to Shine offers a variety of class levels, but students on the studio’s JTF team train with the intensity of athletes.
Rehearsals begin in November, and the preparation reaches a two-week high in January. To build the necessary stamina for their 15-minute set, students run, perform push-ups and do sit-ups, ensuring they are physically and mentally prepared for the high-stakes environment.
The judges took notice.
After the performance, the panel was specifically impressed with the team’s dance technique.
“[One judge] turned around to the entire room and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you are a parent or a supporter of this school, you need to put all of your money into Time to Shine. … They know what they’re doing. You can tell these kids are trained correctly.’ … That was such a huge compliment,” Baughman said.
The judges also highlighted that even the students in the back row remained 100% invested in the story, never breaking character.
The result? Time to Shine walked away with the Excellence in Dance award and an honorable mention in the Tech Olympics.
Time to Shine Performing Arts team holding Excellence in Dance awardSuccess beyond the stage: iTheatrics callbacks
The studio’s technical excellence was further shown in the iTheatrics video auditions. iTheatrics is the organization that develops the “Junior” and “Kids” versions of major musicals for Music Theatre International (MTI), creating the scripts and choreography used by schools worldwide.
At JTF, students audition for the chance to be featured in future choreography DVDs. Time to Shine submitted four students who had to learn complex choreography via video and then apply immediate, live changes in the audition room: a high-pressure test of adaptability.
Every single student sent by Time to Shine earned a callback.
Time to Shine Performing Arts iTheatrics auditioneesReaping the real reward
The most impactful moment, however, happened away from the lights in the cool-down room, a private space for student reflection. Without parents or directors speaking, the students sat in a circle and shared their experiences.
The words that surfaced weren’t about trophies, but about family, passion and kindness.
They celebrated the seniors who led the team through the chaos, and a younger student who pushed through a panic attack minutes before the performance.
“They knew they had gone through adversity, and they came out the other side shining bright,” said Baughman.
Coming soon: Oliver Jr.
A commitment to every child’s growth is the engine behind Time to Shine’s upcoming production of Oliver Jr., showing March 7-8 and March 12-13.
True to their mission, the show is triple-cast for main roles to ensure more students have the opportunity to lead. Additionally, the ensemble is double-cast so that each of the 73 students involved has at least one line and a “time to shine” front-and-center.Time to Shine Performing Arts team on the final day of JTFJoin the movement: summer camps and class registration
Spring classes are open for registration through February 15, and they run through May. The studio offers a comprehensive range of training, including:
Musical theater, dance and acting classesSmall group voice lessonsSmall group piano lessonsAdditionally, both half-day summer camp and performance summer camp registration opens February 15.
Keep an eye on social media the week prior, as the studio releases daily, clue-based riddles to reveal the upcoming performance camps. This is a tradition that has families planning their entire summers around the Time to Shine calendar.
Click here to learn more about Time to Shine Performing Arts or to register for spring classes today.
The above story was produced by Multi-Platform Journalist Sydney Heller with Community Impact’s Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their “sponsored content” purchase through our advertising team.