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Comment by Stephanie Bost on June 24, 2010 at 4:57pm

I have to comment on this blog because Cindy made a dream of mine come true and did not even know it!! The first time I saw "Annie" I was 12 years old. My family had just moved to New Jersey from South Carolina and my father wanted to do something really special for me. My very first Broadway Show was "Annie", and what an amazing production it was!!!! The singing, dancing, and stage sets were fantastic! I loved the whole story of Annie and the show was incredible eventhough we were way up in the topmost part of the balcony and everyone on stage resembled tiny miniatures. After seeing the play I had to see the movie that came out in the theaters starring Aileen Quinn. I saved a bunch of allowance money and bought the soundtrack too! I would listen to the tape and dance any chance I got. My dream was to be on stage as "Annie".

Quite a few years later my husband and I were blessed with a sweet baby girl. When she was old enough to really enjoy music I introduced her to some of the classic broadway hits like "Cats" and "Annie". She was an instant lover of broadway musicals. When she was 5 years old, "Annie" came to Raleigh and I purchased tickets for a "Mommy/Daughter" afternoon to the theater. This was the first stage production she had seen. During the intermission of the show my daughter said to me that she would really love to perform one day and be in the play "Annie". I told her that nothing was impossible, and she just needed to work hard and dream BIG!!
This is where Cindy Verian comes into the picture. Cindy is the director of STARS Youth Theater in Holly Springs and Cameryn (my daughter) began taking classes from her when she was 6 years old. Cameryn loved the classes but was not very comfortable on stage in the beginning. Her very first production she would barely utter a word. Now let's move forward 4 shows and 3 years later to December 2009 and Cindy announces that she is doing the Broadway version of "Annie Jr". I am absolutely ecstatic about this and my daughter decides she would like to audition for one of the orphans. I told her that was a wonderful idea, but why not go ahead and audition for the leading role as Annie. My husband and I had heard her sing in her room and thought she was a pretty talented singer. Now remember, this was singing in her room, not on stage in front of a couple hundred people, and my husband and I are no experts on singing. Cameryn decides to audition with the song "Tomorrow". She auditions and to our great surprise she is cast the leading role of Annie!
I was speechless!!
What a fantastic show it was!! Cindy, along with her daughter Jessica, and music director Toni Seegol put together an amazing production.
During the entire 9 weeks of practice and the week of the performaces I was one of the proudest moms ever! During the actual performances I felt like a young girl again living my dream of "Annie" through my unbelievably talented daughter, Cameryn.

Thanks to Cindy for giving Cameryn that incredible opportunity!! She will remember it for the rest of her life, and thanks to Cameryn for making a childhood dream of mine come true!

Comment by Elizabeth Shugg on June 24, 2010 at 12:35pm

What a wonderful program. Thanks for sharing it with us! I'll add STARS Youth Theater to the Creative TRACKS page.