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rehearsals. You will also not find a parent. Perry is very strict about building
self-reliance among his performers. The kids are not coddled, and they navigate
the program on their own, not through a meddling parent.
Students are taught to develop their performance skills as well as their
life skills. One of the first lessons Perry teaches the kids is that “if you’re not
ten minutes early, you’re already ten minutes late.” More recently, he has
found that he needs to teach kids eye contact, as they are too often engaged
with screens rather than one another. He does not tolerate laziness or slackers.
“When you make a commitment,” he tells me, “you keep it. By building
the commitments, that’s how you build strength. Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!
is about building community.” To his students, who willingly give up their
screens for the experience (it’s the parents who complain, as they need to
get in touch with their precious darlings), Perry is affectionately known as
“Uncle Perry!”
The irony about the “no stars” approach of Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! is
that, inevitably, stars do shine. His students have gone on to perform professionally
on almost every stage in British Columbia and on many stages
beyond, including on Broadway and in film and television. Even long after
his daughters came and went from the program and grew into adults, Perry
took such joy in what he was doing that he continued Gotta Sing! Gotta
Dance! Also, Sound Sensation evolved into ShowStoppers, a teenage glee
choir “before Glee was even in the womb,” as Perry notes. That choir belts
out a colourful, high-energy show for crowds across the province. Showstoppers
have performed with the Universal Gospel Choir, The Nylons, Foreigner
and—much to Perry’s delight—even Barry Manilow. “Her name was
Lola. She was a showgirl.”
The transformative nature of what Perry’s programs accomplish should
not be underestimated. Kids might go into his program at age 9 and leave at
age 19—or they might start later, at 16. Either way, they emerge not only
having evolved through the incredible growth spurt of puberty, but as fully
formed human beings with confidence, enthusiasm, friendships and a realization
that accomplishment comes through hard work and commitment.
What’s more, they know how to sing and dance!
Some of those singers and dancers have gone on to become all types of
professionals, including lawyers—even an international lawyer in Washington,
D.C. For his efforts, Perry has received an Ovation! Award4 for outstanding
long-time contribution to the theatre community. The award is given to
“a member of the community who has contributed more than 10 years to
the development, promotion and continuation of musical theatre in the
lower mainland”. In 2008, the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch hon-