Even many performers with Broadway credits can only dream of singing for Stephen Schwartz, whose more-than-five-decade career as a composer and lyricist has produced “Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Godspell” and a host of other musical theater and Disney hits.
But a group of local high school students has already done it.
Schwartz showed up this weekend at the Music Center at Strathmore to watch Montgomery County’s Young Artists of America perform onstage and in the orchestra.
“It was unreal,” said Jesse Kliman, an 18-year-old DeMatha Catholic High School senior who starred as Ramses in YAA’s production of “The Prince of Egypt,” for which Schwartz also created the soundtrack.
What began 15 years ago as a makeshift student performance in the lobby of North Bethesda’s Strathmore has grown into a well-oiled youth performing arts nonprofit that attracts the attention of real-world artists — even those as renowned as Schwartz.
Brothers Kristofer and Rolando Sanz created YAA out of a shared love of educating young people through music. Their next step for YAA is to build an extensive rehearsal space in Rockville for students across Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.
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“I don’t know that there’s any other place in the country, or certainly very few, where they do theater done by young people and they have this giant orchestra. It’s really cool,” Schwartz said.
A grand vision for young performers in Montgomery County
Student performers in “The Prince of Egypt” had less than 20 days this school year to rehearse their nearly 2 1/2-hour production together. The student orchestra had even less time as a group.
That largely has to do with a lack of available rehearsal space for the about 200-ish teen company hailing from around the DMV.
“There is no real facility that we have access to to bring them together more often,” said producing artistic director Ronaldo Sanz.
Students rise to the challenge, but YAA’s cofounders want better infrastructure for young artists in the area to hone their crafts and build a stronger community.
They imagined the first collaborative performing arts hub in Montgomery County, which is set to break ground this summer and open in early 2027.
Design plans for the more than 10,000-square-foot YAA facility, which will be located in Rockville’s Congressional Plaza, include nine rehearsal studios, a student lounge, community space, plenty of free parking and nearby access to the Twinbrook Metro stop.
As of this week, YAA has raised $5 million out of its $8 million fundraising goal, which will help build the facility and set up scholarships. It owes its success in part to Schwartz’s involvement as the first of several honorary cochairs for the Building Dreams Campaign.
“The YAA is expanding its role as being in the forefront of the arts for young people in Montgomery County and in the D.C. metro area,” Schwartz said. “Seems well worth supporting to me.”
Students in grades three through 12 put on semi-annual productions: one at the end of the school year and one over the summer. They also learn from famous guest mentors, including “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr., “Wicked” alum Kristin Chenoweth, Disney composer Alan Menken, Broadway composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown and “Glee” actor Matthew Morrison.
Schwartz returned this year as a guest mentor after having previously worked with YAA in 2016. Allowing students to hear from an artist firsthand about both his successes and failures was a “really eye-opening moment,” said Kristofer Sanz, YAA’s musical director and instrumental music director at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac.
“To hear someone of his stature and this icon of the American musical theater ... having him share and having him lift them up and saying words like their singing and playing is ‘astonishing’ — it really warms my heart for the kids to know that we’re doing something right,” added Rolando Sanz.
Professional quality is a perk, but not the point
Schwartz came to Saturday’s dress rehearsal with a notebook and planted himself in the back of the concert hall. He was there to mentor students — but he wanted to learn from them, too.
Following a 2021 run on London’s West End, “The Prince of Egypt” creative team is trying to put on a U.S. national tour, Schwartz said.
“It’s very good for me to see what the show is right now and see, ‘Oh, we could maybe make that a little better, and what if we tweak that?’” he added. “So I actually have a sneaky, selfish reason for being here as well.”
It’s a testament to the quality of YAA performances that a Broadway veteran can use a cast of local teenagers as a proxy for his professional shows. YAA musicals are full-on productions, from the student-led cast and orchestra to the grown-up tech, costume and makeup experts there to make the professional-sounding teens look like professionals, too.
About an hour before showtime, Kliman sat in front of a mirror rimmed with lightbulbs as Jalisa Williams, the show’s makeup artist who also performs around the DMV, created his dramatic stage face.
He spoke about his aspirations for a future career in opera after studying at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music this fall. Other YAA alums have gone on to appear in and produce Broadway shows, act on popular TV shows and perform with theater companies around the country.
But students don’t have to aim for the biggest spotlights to gain something from performing, its founders argue.
“What you’re trying to do is help them become the best version of them,” Schwartz concurred. “I don’t think it’s very helpful mentorship to be like, ‘Don’t do that, do this.’ ... It’s always trying to meet them where they are and discern what’s the road they’re trying to travel and how can I help them further down that road.”
He added: “More than anything, I just hope it’s a joyous experience.”
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