Showcase Players Director Helps Students Shine On Stage and Off

For almost a decade, Miguel Oquendo has been staging shows featuring the Greater Brandon area's youth talent, with the Showcase Players, in residence at Music Showcase and now through the Florida Academy of Performing Arts (FAOPA).

Why does he do it?

"I ask myself that a lot," he said good-naturedly, after the final curtain of the Saturday, Jan. 26 performance of his latest production, Parade, at the James McCabe Theater in Valrico. "Generations of kids have come through this program and it's fun to watch their growth, watch them become young women and young men, and to know that I had something to do with that."

• See Showcase Players On Stage With 'Parade' at the James McCabe Theater

He added that he likes to see his musical theater students, along with his voice students, "gain confidence, number one." Also, he likes to give them "somewhere to go, something to do, that keeps them out of trouble and gets them onto the right path, in terms of other choices they could make."

Working with the Showcase Players gives young talent a chance to shine on stage and behind the scenes, and to "socialize and make friends in a positive envrionment," Oquendo said.

For Oquendo, working with students in the classroom and in the theater is a serious business, but also a supportive enviornment, with friendships formed in a family like atmosphere.

Oquendo's latest production, Parade, is triple-cast for some roles, giving more students the opportunity to play lead roles over the course of the six-show production. About half the cast is performing with the Showcase Players for the first time.

"It's good for them to grow and to learn and it's fun to watch them do that," Oquendo said. "Every show they grow and improve and their confidence level increases in terms of getting on stage, being in front of a crowd and speaking."

As he has noted before, for other shows, 'This cast is one of the best casts I've ever had," Oquendo said. "Sometimes they drive me insane, but I love them." 

And the show, as it has been for almost a decade, goes on.

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Showcase Players Show Times for Parade
(Shows are at the James McCabe Theater in Valrico, at 506 Fifth St.)

• Friday, Jan. 25 — 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Jan. 26 — 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Jan. 27 — 2 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 1 — 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 2 — 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 3 — 2 p.m.

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Small Business Spotlight: Music Showcase in Brandon

• Music Showcase is at 402 Oakfield Drive in Brandon, a full-line music store featuring brand-name musical instruments for purchase and rent and quality workshops and lessons for almost every instrument and voice.

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Nonprofit Spotlight: Florida Academy of Performing Arts

• The Florida Academy of Performing Arts, in residence at Music Showcase, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization formed to support performing arts education in the classroom, in the theater and beyond. Scholarships are available for eligible students.

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