The voices of experience

On the second day of class recently at Summer at the Center, a

program at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the music

teacher asked her students to put their books down. Many of them

couldn’t read sheet music anyway, and it did them no good -- not with

two weeks before show time -- to try to follow the notes perfectly.

Instead, she asked them to follow her.

“The focus has got to be there from the beginning, and the thought

has got to be there,” Cynthia McGarity, the program’s assistant music

director, explained as the piano player started again.

Within a few seconds, 40 copies of the Simon and Garfunkel classic

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” lay on the rehearsal room floor. The

teacher accompanied the lyrics with broad body language, and some of

the students followed suit. The music wandered in and out of key, but

the voices gained in feeling, urged on by the instructor’s hands.

“When tears are in your eyes” -- she pointed to her temples. “If

you need a friend” -- her arms spread out wide. “Like a bridge over

troubled water” -- she stretched them out forward. When the students

hit the high note at the end of the song, she applauded.

The young vocalists here may not have much experience reading

scales, but they have emotional wells deep enough to service the most

soulful ballad. Among the participants in the Summer at the Center

program are youths who have been in juvenile hall, dropped out of

high school, and flirted with substance abuse.

By their first performance this Saturday, they’ll have taken

another step toward a steady future.

“It may give them that sense of accomplishment that’s been missing

in their lives,” said Jason Holland, manager of education programs

for the center. Since 1991 the Performing Arts Center has offered the

Summer at the Center program for at-risk youths in Orange County.

For two weeks, participants learn the basics of singing, dancing

and choreography from scratch, culminating in three public

performances on the last day. This year’s shows on July 30 will

feature a mix of Disney classics, country songs and even a few tunes

from the Rat Pack.

To many students, being admitted to the program is achievement

enough. Applicants must go through an interview with a panel of

officials from the center and the Orange County Department of

Education, talking about their dedication and goals rather than their

ability to hit a C sharp. Out of 110 students interviewed this year,

only 40 made the cut.

Bill Brawley, the artistic director of the nonprofit educational

group Young Americans, directs the summer program along with his

wife, Robyn, every year. In preparing for this year’s show, entitled

“Tribute,” Brawley was amazed by the musical knowledge of some of his

disadvantaged students.

For dance numbers, Brawley drew from equally eclectic sources,

incorporating everything from the Charleston to Missy Elliott. Sandy

Hernandez, a junior at the Mesa Education Center in Costa Mesa, said

she hoped to do a solo in the show despite never having danced

before.

“I’m really scared because I don’t know how it’s going to come

out,” said Sandy, 15.

The only Newport-Mesa resident in this year’s program, Sandy went

to Estancia High School before personal problems led her into

alternative education.

For most of the last two years, she has worked four hours a day at

the Mesa Education Center near Orange Coast College, hoping to

transfer back to a regular high school before graduation.

“I just liked it -- all the dancing and singing,” Sandy said.

recalled. “I just felt really glad for all of them.”