Summer employment for talented teenagers means a chance to cash in on their singing and dancing skills by performing on regional stages.
Choo-Choo Kids, the musical theater troupe from Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts, is singing and dancing four times a day for visitors to Lake Winnepesaukah.
“Our guests of all ages thoroughly enjoy their shows,” said Talley Green, public relations director at Lake Winnie. “Younger guests like the comedic aspect of the shows, while the songs and music bring back great memories for older visitors. They are park ambassadors.”
Thirty-four dancers from Ginger Brown Dance Academy began performances June 13 on three stages along Gatlinburg’s main thoroughfare. Ranging in age from 7 to 17, they perform from 5 to 10 p.m. five nights a week. Three more academy dancers are performing daily in VeggieTales at Dollywood.
More than one-third of the 40-member cast at Vaudeville Cafe is composed of students from Hamilton County and North Georgia high schools, said owner Chris Hampton. They greet guests to the mystery dinners in character before playing their roles onstage.
“The experience of being in front of an audience and talking to strangers lends itself to other avenues in life. If you learn to present yourself well, you’ll be able to relate to people throughout life,” Mr. Hampton said of the summer work experience.
Susan Palmer Pierce is a reporter and columnist in the Life department. She began her journalism career as a summer employee 1972 for the News Free Press, typing bridal announcements and photo captions. She became a full-time employee in 1980, working her way up to feature writer, then special sections editor, then Lifestyle editor in 1995 until the merge of the NFP and Times in 1999. She was honored with the 2007 Chattanooga Woman of ...
