Typical summer activities for an incoming freshman girl: go to the mall with friends, watch movies, hang out by the pool, and do some summer reading homework (maybe). These are the kinds of experiences expected from 14-year old girls soon-to-be entering their first year of high school. While her friends were lounging at the pool, however, freshman Taylor Todd was doing something a bit more glamorous.
“This summer, I did a three week performing arts camp with Dallas Summer Musicals, and we put together a full-scale production of Fame,” Todd said.
Dallas Summer Musicals began in 1941, with ten outdoors performances per week, with tickets ranging from $0.30 to $1.10. Since then (with a brief reprieve for the duration of WWII), DSM has been “produc[ing], present[ing] and promot[ing] excellence in live musical theatre with year-round performances for diverse audiences” in North Texas.
This enrichment includes summer productions for all ages, including the one Todd attended.
“I played Skyler, who was a feature dancer, and I also had a solo,” Todd said. “Skyler was a lead. There were only two numbers I was really scared for, which were the hip-hop numbers, just because I had never ever done anything like that before.”
Todd, before this summer, and excepting some basic dance lessons as a child, had zero experience dancing before she was thrust into a lead dancer role in this production.
“I danced when I was little, like most people do, but other than that I hadn’t danced before, so it was a little scary,” Todd said.
This musical was fast-paced and quickly produced, focusing on highly intensive, all-day rehearsals.
“We rehearsed for six hours a day, five days a week, for three weeks, and then performed two shows,” Todd said. “And the first three days of those weeks were casting, so we didn’t have a lot of time.”
Despite the speed with which the show was casted, rehearsed, and performed, there were valuable lessons in this experience for Todd.
“I learned a lot of dance technique and it was a great experience,” Todd said. “I got to work with a lot of people I had never worked with before. The oldest people were sophomores in college and the youngest were in seventh grade, so it was a big range.”
The house seated 400, and about 200-250 people were present for each show. After this experience, Todd has pursued her interest in dance and the performing arts.
“I am now dancing two times a week; I do ballet and tap at Dance Industry Studio in Plano,” Todd said. “I am also in the beginning acting class and the concert women choir.”
