N.Y. theater program accepts teen
CRANBERRY TWP — Jordyn Walker has been singing for as long as she can remember. In fact she hopes to sing on Broadway someday.
She’ll inch closer to that dream after being accepted into an intense summer musical theater program in New York City.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Dawn Walker, her mother, of her daughter’s career in musical theater. “It’s not something I had ever planned or expected. It’s something that started out fun and turned into something much bigger.”
Jordyn Walker, 17, of Cranberry, was accepted into Pace University’s summer musical theater program in Manhattan. For two weeks in July, Walker will be immersed in the industry: taking classes, seeing shows and getting insight from special guest teachers.
This is not her first experience in the New York. Last summer Jordyn auditioned for and was accepted to sing in a Broadway review at Carnegie Music Hall with other performers her age. She was a lead soloist there.
Earlier this year she was invited back to perform at New York City’s Feinstein’s 54 Below cabaret as a lead soloist.
“Those were probably highlights of my experience in musical theater so far,” she said.
Jordyn, a junior at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, Beaver County, also stays busy with performances back home.
She recently performed in the school’s production of “Shrek the Musical” and is rehearsing for the Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s production of “Hair” that will run May 18-21. She’ll play the role of Sheila in the May 19 and May 21 shows.
As a member of the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory at Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Jordyn spends most Saturdays taking classes that prepare her for a career in theater.
Singing and performing has always been natural for Jordyn, her mother said.
She began taking voice lessons when she was 7 years old and did her first musical when she was about 10, Jordyn Walker said. After that she was hooked.
“I’ve always been a performer. I’ve never been shy,” she said. “Whenever I started it, I realized it was something I was good at.”
Going to school at Lincoln Park allows Jordyn to combine academics and the arts. She attends arts classes in the morning — singing, dancing and acting — and goes to regular academic classes in the afternoon.
She’s looking forward to her summer in New York City and at Pace University as she hopes to attend college there and live in the city. Jordyn hopes to get insight into what Pace looks for in prospective students as well as experience all that the city has to offer.
