What does a city do for its children when the world has been this heavy for this long? It is not just this summer. It has been a rough year locally and globally. People are tired. Parents are worried. And some residents have quietly wanted to stop going outside altogether.

 

Fifty-something young people in Beaumont answered that question the only way that matters.

 

They chose a stage.

 

Since June 1, the Jonathan Williams Center for the Performing Arts summer camp has filled the halls, rooms and auditorium at former Austin Middle School every single week. More than fifty young people. Showing up. Learning choreography, running lines, building something together. While the world outside kept being heavy, these kids were busy becoming a cast.

 

They are putting on The Wiz. And last week, Beaumont's own Mayor stopped by their rehearsal."

 

He did not have to. Nobody scheduled a press moment. He came because what was happening in that room deserved to be witnessed. He stood among those children, alongside Jonathan Williams who has been building this organization for almost a decade, and he saw what Beaumont looks like when it chooses its young people.

 

Jonathan Williams founded JWCPA in December 2016 after spending more than 35 years in music education. He made a promise to his students long before he retired and he made good on it. Since then, more than 502 young people and adults have performed in JWCPA productions, with audiences exceeding 3,450 people traveling from as far as New York, California, and Ohio to see what Beaumont's children can do.

 

The cast has something to say about what this summer has meant to them. Every single member reached for the same word: golden.

 

Tiauna Smith plays Dorothy. She has dreamed of this role since she was a little girl. After the curtain falls on June 27 she leaves for Los Angeles to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, one of the most selective performing arts conservatories in the country, whose alumni include Janelle Monáe, Jason Derulo, and Hamilton stars Christopher Jackson and Anthony Ramos. A young woman from Beaumont who grew up watching Dorothy sing about going home is about to step into the heart of Hollywood and build something of her own. Watch her sing Home this weekend. Remember where you saw her first.

 

André Pitre plays The Wiz. Beaumont native. West Brook High School graduate. IMDB-listed actor with television credits and decades of performing arts experience. He came home to Beaumont to play this role. That is not a small thing.

 

And then there is Tra'Marion, playing an Emerald City Citizen. This is his very first play. Ever. He will perform it at the Julie Rogers Theatre this weekend. Read that again. His first play. On that stage. This summer. While the rest of the news has been about what Beaumont's young people are doing wrong.

 

The Julie Rogers Theatre holds 1,651 seats. Three performances this weekend. That is nearly 5,000 seats. Every single one is a chance for this community to stand up and say: we see you. We chose you. We showed up for you the same way you showed up all summer.

 

The mayor already showed up. Now it is everyone else's turn.