When Wilson High School senior Kaylee Brubaker was in first grade, her parents took her to singing lessons to help her with public speaking. But that set a course for something new.
“Within months, I found that I loved to sing,” Kaylee told the Signal Tribune. “From there, I enrolled in any after school drama club production I could.”
Kaylee’s early love for performing is a familiar refrain among the four Long Beach recipients of Musical Theatre West’s (MTW) annual Footlighters scholarships, awarded this year to 12 students across Los Angeles and Orange counties out of 35 who auditioned.
The other three Long Beach recipients are Dylan Bernstein, also a senior at Wilson; Aidan McGuiness, a senior at St. Anthony High School; and Saylyrr Toilolo, a senior at Renaissance High School for the Arts.
The awardees will perform at a MTW Footlighters scholarship benefit luncheon on June 26 at The Grand in Long Beach. Event tickets are available for a $50 donation through MTW’s website, Musical.org.
Footlighters is a nonprofit organization formed in 2001 to help support MTW—which resides at the Carpenter Center on the Cal State Long Beach campus—through fundraising events. Since 2005, Footlighters has awarded over $120,000 in various scholarships to 118 local high school students to foster arts education.
MTW’s Education and Outreach program—of which the Footlighters scholarships is a part— introduces over 17,000 youth to musical theater annually through matinee performances, school assemblies and in-class workshops.
“MTW believes that the arts provide enrichment of the soul and that musical theater, a uniquely American art form, should be preserved and nurtured,” MTW’s website states. “The arts contribute to intellectual development and creative thinking.”
“To be able to stand in front of others and move them with a performance is the most gratifying experience. Performing itself is always nerve-wracking, and I’m always in my head about every mistake, but the curtain-call is where the reward is reaped, because saying ‘Thank you’ to an audience is just the greatest euphoria.”
–Dylan Bernstein, a senior at Wilson High School who received a scholarship from Musical Theatre West
Kaylee said receiving the $1,000 Footlighters’ Dramatic Allied Arts Guild Scholarship increased her confidence.
“I find that I have trouble letting go during a performance,” Kaylee said. “My mind can get stuck on the smallest mistake I may have made during a song or scene.”
Despite her anxiety, Kaylee is still thrilled to perform. Playing Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” most recently taught her to stay in the moment and be grateful for her voice, she said.
“Those butterflies and nervous jitters that everyone gets during productions are irreplaceable,” she said. “Especially when it comes to those final moments behind the curtain, waiting for your cue.”
Kaylee’s dream is to sing at Disneyland. In the meantime, she will start at Cal State Long Beach in the fall, majoring in human development.
Like Kaylee, fellow Wilson senior Dylan Bernstein has been performing since elementary school and enjoys serving others through theatre.
“To be able to stand in front of others and move them with a performance is the most gratifying experience,” Dylan told the Signal Tribune. “Performing itself is always nerve-wracking, and I’m always in my head about every mistake, but the curtain-call is where the reward is reaped, because saying ‘Thank you’ to an audience is just the greatest euphoria.”
His best performance so far has been as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Dylan noted, though it demanded his greatest effort.
“Getting out of my head is the hardest thing for me,” he said. “The beginning of the show is the most uncomfortable I can ever feel. If I make a mistake, that feeling returns.”
Going forward, Dylan would like to work on his voice, especially since he hasn’t performed in a year due to the pandemic.
“My range is pretty large, around four-and-a-half octaves, but a lot of the notes, especially in the higher register, leave my vocal cords reeling,” he said.
Receiving the Footlighters’ Ken and Dottie Reiner Scholarship boosted his confidence to continue developing, he said.
“Everyone has been so supportive along the way,” Dylan said. “I really could not be more appreciative to everyone who made it happen for me.”
Aidan McGuiness also expressed pride and gratitude in receiving the Footlighters’ Don Temple Family Scholarship. He plans to keep performing musical theatre after high school.
“I am so eager to gain knowledge from professionals in college, as well as performers my age who have maybe shared similar experiences,” Aidan told the Signal Tribune. “This scholarship is truly a blessing.”
Aidan had “fallen in love” with MTW shows growing up and, since his freshman year, has performed as Peter in “Peter and the Starcatcher” and Nick in “Godspell.” He especially liked playing Jack in the musical “Into the Woods” because the character reminded him of himself.
“My absolute favorite thing about theatre performance is the sense of gratification and freedom,” Aidan said. “The way I feel after giving a performance is addicting.”
Being away from theatre during the past year’s pandemic was therefore hard on him.
“I rely on theatre performance a lot to clear my head,” Aidan said. “When that was taken from me—and the world—it became difficult and unnatural.”
Writer, singer and actress Saylyrr Toilolo—winner of Footlights’ John Bisom Scholarship—similarly appreciates theatre’s freedom and playfulness.
“It’s definitely fun to be in a different reality,” she told the Signal Tribune. “Characters have layers, and the actor gets to depict those layers however they feel is necessary.”
Toilolo’s favorite role so far has been Pig Pen in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” because she got to play with imaginary dirt and have baby powder puffing from her overalls.
However, her pet peeve about the theatre is typecasting, especially as a person of color.
“Considering how I look, I can be placed into something that doesn’t feel like me, but that stereotypically looks like me,” Toilolo said. “I love to believe that, like any other person, I have the full capability to play multitudes of characters.”
In college, she plans on writing scripts, perhaps even books.
“This scholarship still feels surreal,” Toilolo said. “When I came with my school to watch ‘Holiday Inn’ [at MTW], not only was I in utter awe but I was sold, and adamant to be a part of this journey.”
Musical Theatre West Footlighters’ scholarship benefit luncheon, with award-winning students performing, will take place Saturday, June 26, at 11 a.m. at The Grand, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach. Tickets are available for a $50 donation at Musical.org.
