Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, in partnership with presenting sponsor The Children’s Trust, is hosting the finals of the Young Talent Big Dreams competition at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10. As Miami-Dade County’s most celebrated free youth talent competition, this year marks a milestone—a quince for a program that has launched thousands of young performers on their journeys to stardom.
In this landmark year for the competition, hundreds of kids ages 8-18 stepped into the spotlight and showcased their skills across a wide array of categories, including music, dance, voice, spoken word, and original composition. Over the past 15 years, Young Talent Big Dreams has become a staple in the Miami arts community, serving as a springboard for local talent to achieve national and even international acclaim.
Young Talent Big Dreams follows the popular TV talent show model; judges have included a host of industry professionals from the performing arts community. Past winners of the competition include Zachary Roy who reached the semifinals on Season 15 of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and Joana Martinez who achieved a Top 10 placement as part of “Team Gwen (Stefani)” on Season 17 of NBC’s The Voice. Other notable alumni include Angelina Green who went on to earn the coveted golden buzzer from judge Heidi Klum on Season 12 of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and is now a member of Simon Fuller’s pop group The Future X and Gino Cosculluela who brought home the third-place title on Season 16 of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and starred on Broadway as Tommy Djilas in The Music Man alongside Hugh Jackman.
Preliminary auditions were held in March and April with the semifinals taking place last weekend. Throughout the competition, participants had the chance to perform on professional stages throughout the county including the Miracle Theatre, the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, Miami Arts Studio 6-12 @ Zelda Glazer and The City of Miami Little Haiti Cultural Complex.
The finals of Young Talent Big Dreams will feature a total of six individual categories including pop/rock/rap vocals, musical theatre/jazz standards/classical vocals, dance, musical instrument, original spoken word, and original vocal and/or instrumental composition. Categories for groups of six or fewer members include dance, musical instrument/bands and vocal groups.
“Young Talent Big Dreams is at the heart of our mission to uplift Miami’s youth through the arts,” said Barbara S. Stein, executive producing director of Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. “Celebrating this milestone ‘quince’ anniversary’ is a testament to the program’s legacy of providing life-changing opportunities for our community’s youth.”
“The Children’s Trust is proud to play a role in the transformative journeys for the young talents of Miami-Dade County,” said James R. Haj, President & CEO of The Children’s Trust. “No matter the outcome of this season, the true triumph is our community’s dedication to nurturing local talent and creating meaningful opportunities for them to shine.”
For more information and tickets visit actorsplayhouse.org/young-talent-big-dreams/ or call 305-444-9293.
