Sitting in her sixth-period statistics class, Harrison School of the Arts senior Cendall Williams froze when her phone buzzed: “Hey, we just got an email from YoungArts … you won.”
“I pretty much ran to my acting teacher’s room to celebrate the good news with him,” Williams said. “He inspired me to apply in the first place.”
Williams submitted her audition as a long shot, never imagining she would be named a Winner with Distinction for theater/musical — one of 734 winners chosen from nearly 13,000 applicants nationwide. Past YoungArts alumni include Oscar winners Jon Batiste and Viola Davis and Golden Globe winner Timothee Chalamet.
Lakeland Roots and Support
Williams’ passion for musical theater started young. Watching her sister perform at Lakeland Community Theatre, she knew instantly that the stage was where she belonged…