Imagine lights shining, heart pounding and palms sweating “” you’re standing in front of a panel of judges, pouring your heart and soul into one song for the chance to win a $1,000 educational scholarship. It’s not exactly a prize of American Idol proportions, but for San Diego County teenagers, it’s pretty darn close.
Fifteen finalists “” narrowed from a pool of 60 “” will participate in Project CenterStage: A Teen Musical Theatre Competition on Saturday, Feb. 3.
The event, presented by J*Company Youth Theatre, begins at 8 p.m. at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive in La Jolla.
“With the success of reality shows like ‘American Idol’ and stuff like that, I thought it was a good way to get people excited about musical theater,” said Aaron Huniu, managing director for J*Company and creator of the first-time event.
The competition, organized in a similar way as Idol, began with auditions open to teens age 13 to 18 at three locations. Fifteen finalists were then chosen to perform at the final concert for the chance to win scholarships ranging from the aforementioned $1,000 to $500 and $250.
Daniel Myers, 14, a student at High Tech Middle Media Arts and a finalist in the CenterStage Competition, said he was singing long before he knew how to talk.
“My parents tell me that when I was a little baby I used to hum when I was sleeping and when I woke up I’d cry,” Myers said. “As I grew older, every single moment of the day I’d spend singing made up songs or songs I heard.”
James Maslow, 16, from La Jolla, is also a finalist. He said he learned about the competition while doing a promotional concert for J*Company.
“I thought it would be fun. It sounded like a good opportunity to perform and just to get to sing,” Maslow said.
Maslow has been performing since he was 6 years old in the San Diego Children’s Choir; he picked up musical theater in the eighth grade.
Performing with a live band at the final concert will be nothing new for Myers and Maslow, who train with vocal coaches outside school and have experience performing for large crowds. Both also wish to continue musical theater during life after high school.
“I think I’ll always do some musical theater, because I do enjoy it enough to pursue it in the future,” Maslow said. He admitted that his real passion is acting and wishes to pursue a career in film and television.
Myers, too, sees a long-term future in the performing arts.
“I’ve had a lot of fun doing it so far and I think that I would really enjoy continuing it for practically as long as I live,” Myers said. “Maybe not professionally as in every single moment of the day dedicated to it, but every once in awhile.”
Huniu and J*Company Artistic Director Joey Landwehr created the program for the concert from songs submitted by the finalists, taking great care to ensure there was no repetition and a lot of continuity.
“We also had to see if there was enough up tempos and ballads “¦ if you have 15 ballads the audience might get a little bored,” Huniu said.
The concert will feature songs from musicals such as “Footloose,” “The Wiz,” “Dreamgirls,” “Funny Girl,” “Showboat,” “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and “My Fair Lady.”
Maslow is scheduled to perform “Lost in the Wilderness” from “Children of Eden,” a musical loosely based on the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament.
Myers will be performing the song he auditioned with, “Johnny One Note” from “Babes in Arms,” which tells the story of a boy who puts on a show to avoid being sent to a work farm.
“It’s something that I’m confident about me performing,” Maslow said. “I’ve been really busy with school so it hasn’t been my first priority and at this point I’m looking at it more as just a fun night because it’s 50 percent of the audience vote.”
The winner of the competition will be determined at the end of the final concert by the audience and four guest judges, including Landwehr, who has worked as an actor and director in New York City both on and off Broadway.
Other judges are Hilari Scarl, a producer, director, writer and performer as well as actor and dancer Peter Kalivas and actor James Leo Ryan.
A final group performance will precede the announcement of the winner, and an encore performance by the winner will conclude the concert.
J*Company is a program of the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center.
Tickets for the Project CenterStage are $20 and are available at the Jewish Community Center box office at (858) 362-1348 or www.lfjcc.org/jcompany.
For more information and a complete list of finalists, visit www.sdcjc.lfjcc.org/jc/projectCstage.php.