Universal City : Young Performers Hit Big Time in Musical

The children of Rock Theatre, a Universal City-based vocal and dance troupe, have landed the break every performer waits for: hitting the big time.

Along with a Long Beach troupe, the Rock Theatre kids are now starring in 16 performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s pop musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre.

“It’s quite a thrill,” said 12-year-old Justin Worth of Moorpark. “It’s really something that I’ll never forget.”

In the show, a reworking of the biblical story of Joseph, the children form a chorus behind the featured performers, singing and dancing nearly the whole time.

Amanda Dumas, an 11-year-old Burbank resident who’s been with the troupe for two years, said that although she still gets pre-show jitters, they usually disappear when the curtain goes up.

“Sometimes I’ll pray, sometimes I think about how great we’re gonna be,” she said.

Another Rock Theatre veteran, Encino resident Rhiann Katzman, 10, said she conquered her shyness early in her career by putting it in perspective.

“I said, ‘What’s the big deal?’ ” she recalled.

The troupe landed the “Joseph” gig in May but was not able to rehearse with the full cast until last Tuesday, the day the play opened. Still, everything went wonderfully, said Rock Theatre director Greg Holford. He explained that the biggest challenge was getting the young performers to project their voices over the orchestra.

“A lot of them [have] smaller voices and they needed to be developed,” he said.

And although the show keeps them huffing, puffing and hoofing for more than two hours each night, the children say they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“For me, I’d have to be dead before I’d give up my energy,” Worth said.

The show continues at the Pantages through Sunday.