“It’s my fifth year. I just want a line.” Written on audition form by a girl in a musical theater summer program.

There is a glaring achievement gap in children’s theater. Every town seems to have a handful of girls who could go on America’s Got Talent (ATG) and get an impressed nod from Simon Cowell. They are the budding Rachel Berry’s in our lives. These girls, (I call them the ATG girls), through a combination of genetics and opportunity have golden voices and a surfeit of self-confidence. They are amazing. Most of them work hard and show up on time and they get all the leads from the time they are ten years old. And they nail these parts almost every time. They are joyful to watch.

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