Young Americans: Their 10-week odyssey ends tonight in Dowagiac

Published 8:28 pm Tuesday, November 20, 2007

By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
The opening number for tonight's Young Americans concert at Dowagiac Middle School completely fills the Performing Arts Center stage, with some 40 troupe members and more than 170 local student performers grades 4-12.
Young Americans come from as far away as Alaska and England and as close by as Coloma.
More than a dozen of them hail from Michigan, but they also land in Dowagiac from Delaware, Canada, Florida, Maine, Ohio, New York, Mississippi and Oregon.
They are staying with 15 host families during the four-day stay in Dowagiac, the 19th and last stop after 10 weeks of touring.
That finality is evident even from the seats.
As they waited between songs Monday afternoon during their 12-hour rehearsal, Young Americans had their arms draped around each other as the recognition sunk in that as strong as the bonds are that they forged as road warriors for 10 weeks, after tonight they will never all be together again.
Not that a Young Americans show ever lacks for emotion or passion, but the tinge of sadness makes it all the more poignant.
Dowagiac is in for a chest-clutching, high-energy treat tonight at 7:30 with the varied show they have been refining since Sunday, from the opening percussive stomp to a mellower segment showcasing singer-songwriters with a medley of Barry Manilow, Elton John's "Your Song," Billy Joel's "Piano Man," Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," plus Kristin Newborn's new-born song, "Becky," which she momentarily forgot the lyrics – but as the Beatles song attests, she'll get by with a little help from her friends.
There are also musical production numbers built around Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat, Mary Poppins and a blue blanket brigade for "You're A Good Man, Charlie, Brown."
And during the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. marathon, there was a lot more going on than singing and dancing.
When they catch their breath, the students congregate in the center section and their mentors flop down at the front of the stage for a session that's more rap session than relaxation, with lots of messages about the essence of performing is giving a gift to the audience.
"I know a lot of you guys have hard stuff to deal with every day, whether it was last year or it's still happening," a female performer begins tearfully. "I want you guys to all know that you're all so beautiful, and none of you deserve anything bad in your lives ever. You're all incredible people. Just know that nothing anybody ever says should ever take away from who you are. Always be yourself."
Another young woman builds on the sentiment: "Have any of you ever been scared in your life? Happy? Sad? As unique as each of you are, at the exact same time," everyone can relate to such emotions and thereby help each other through whatever transpires "if you let them in. That's the hard part. You have to let them in."
A young man said the Young Americans, in giving their final performance tonight, "feel what you guys feel toward the end. Sometimes we forget because we do it all the time."