"Dreamgirls" | Musical gave a boost to young stars' dreams

For some of the students who performed in this summer's groundbreaking production of "Dreamgirls" at Rainier Beach High School, the real-life dreams of musical careers continue.

The August staging of the big production — about an up-and-coming girl group in the 1960s — was the first major effort by Broadway Bound, a Seattle arts group, to take its program to low-income students in Seattle's South End. For Rainier Beach High, it was a rare moment in the limelight.

Ivory Solomon played the Dreamgirls' gruff manager. The Rainier Beach senior is now applying to college music programs and has been talking to a record company in California.

Quincy Robinson, who played several roles in the show, now works for Broadway Bound, which has been talking to Seattle Public Schools about possible future collaborations.

Robinson's helping a cast of 7- to 10-year-olds as they practice for an upcoming production of "Bugsy Malone." Getting to the rehearsals in the North End takes two hours on four buses. To get home, he takes five.

Robinson and castmate Shaniqua Bodary, who played singer Effie White, recently auditioned for a summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. So did Nico Handley, who got over his shyness this summer to shine on stage. Solomon intends to audition, too.

The students also have faced challenges. Bodary, for example, was diagnosed with diabetes, and it's a struggle to afford insulin.

Still, almost every Wednesday she makes it to Broadway Bound's teen program, joining Handley, Solomon and Robinson.

"We made a family out of it," Handley says.

— Linda Shaw