Hawke's Bay teens selected to attend US musical theatre festival

Maia Driver, left, Renee Seymour, Jackson Stone, Marcus Allan and Isobella Comber. Photo / Shannon Johnstone

Five teenagers from Napier have been selected to represent New Zealand at the Junior Theatre Festival in the United States in January.

Renee Seymour, Isobella Comber, Marcus Allan, Jackson Stone and Maia Driver aged 12-15 are part of the first New Zealand group to attend the event.

They were chosen for the festival after their attendance at the New Zealand Junior Theatre Festival in Auckland last year.

"Many of these children want to do theatre for their careers so it's just an amazing opportunity they've been given," Maia's mother Andrea Driver said.

"It will be such a great opportunity for them to open their eyes to the world," said Marcus's mother Kelly Sinden-Allan said.

Starting in the new year, the teens will visit New York for eight days spending time with Broadway performers and preparing a 10-minute performance piece.

They will travel to Atlanta for four days followed by five days in Los Angeles where they will get to spend time behind the scenes with Disneyland performers.

"I'm excited to meet all the other kids from around the world and being able to perform," said Isobella.

"I'm looking forward to being able to perform with all the kids who have the same passion as us," said Maia.

The teens have spent more than a year fundraising for the trip through busking on Emerson St and holding movie and quiz nights.

To contribute, Tremains Napier have teamed up to help the kids, offering a donation.

"I saw that these kids had made a huge effort in trying to fundraise for themselves, we wanted to be able to help out our community as these kids have been given such an amazing opportunity," Tremains sale consultant Sarah Pinckney-Welch said.

Three of the teenagers became involved in theatre through Taradale Intermediate and two are part of the Napier Operatic Society.

The teenagers are all clearly passionate about theatre. "I love that feeling you get when you're entertaining people," Marcus said.