A typical shopping plaza in South Florida has common attributes: composed of nail salons, fast-food joints and cell phone stores, and located close to a major highway.
But one unassuming plaza in Broward County is home to a different business — one where teens are belting out harmonies and shoes squeak against wood floors.
At Broadway Kids Studio (BKS), a comprehensive performing arts program in Davie, students spend their days memorizing lines, blocking scenes and learning choreography.
“ I was trying to find a place where parents could find a one-stop shop, and the kids could develop their full performance side,” said BKS founder Michelle Ameerally. “Because a lot of times somebody will say, ‘Well, I'm a singer,’ but if they wanna be in a Broadway show, they have to be able to dance or vice versa.”
The South Florida native has spent almost two decades teaching theater to young children and teens, building a legacy of not only well-rounded performers, but empathetic people.
“ [Good educators] are never gonna remember what was the score, what grade did you get,” Ameerally said. “They're gonna go, ‘Wow, that kid really made it,’ and not making it because of a high paying career, but making it as a human.”
That’s her ultimate hope for her students.
“I feel like the biggest takeaways from theater is how to become your own person. Broadway Kids really transformed my way of thinking in that I didn't have to be like anyone else. I could be myself and be successful.”Alex Lugo
Ameerally said she does not tolerate big egos or bad attitudes. She said she aims to make BKS a safe space to make mistakes, ask for feedback and grow as a performer.
At BKS, students in grades K-12 can take a variety of classes, including singing, dancing, acting and playing musical instruments. The studio also offers private lessons, a theater production course, an afterschool program and shuttle services to transport students.
Michelle Ameerally, who acted professionally for over twenty years, started teaching private voice lessons out of her home in 2005. When more parents started reaching out to her, she sought out a bigger space where she could offer more for her students.
In 2008, she found the current location for BKS off I-595.
In what was once a mortgage facility and party event space, there are now dance studios, music rooms and bright orange hallways lined with posters of theater productions from years past.
”It's so much more than a studio, you know? And that's what's important for people to understand,” Ameerally said. “Why do I care so much? Why wouldn't I? Your baby's my baby.”
This fall, a group of students are rehearsing for their production of Heathers The Musical, based on the 1988 movie of the same name. The PG-13 version of the musical discusses the types of issues young people face such as bullying, popularity and belonging.
Isabela Kouras, 17, plays Heather Chandler. And just like the characters, she’s navigating her senior year of high school.
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“ I'm definitely here more than I'm at my own house. 'Cause if I didn't have this, I don't even know what it would be like if I just went home after school every day and did my homework. Ugh. That would be horrible,” she said.
She's been going to BKS since she was about four years old. Even when she's not practicing, she helps at the studio by teaching dance classes to younger students. As she has grown, so has the studio.
”Even just thinking about that is bittersweet because it's just over the years, like, I've grown up with these people, they're my family. I think that's so important to keep the people you meet along the way,” she said.
Over the nearly 20 years of running BKS, Ameerally has cultivated a supportive community that has come together during times of hardships, whether that be divorces or deaths in the family.
“ I've always been a better person than I'm a performer. I like to give back. Having lost my dad so young puts life in perspective for me in a different format than others,” she said.
Ameerally’s dad died suddenly of a heart attack at 48. At that point in time, she was still a professional actor performing in a run of the musical Aida.
That’s when her priorities shifted.
She made a choice to step away from the spotlight and take on a different role — one that allows her to spend more time with her loved ones.
She said the theater community showed up for her during that hard period in her life. Now she wants to help others in the best way she knows how: theater.
Those lessons followed former BKS student Alex Lugo, who works as assistant dance captain for the Broadway company of Hadestown in New York.
“ Acting and performing is so vulnerable, right?” Lugo said. “As someone who is part of an industry that can be very overwhelming, very overstimulating, almost feeling like you're a number... BKS was so tender in the way that they treated me as not only a student, but a young person.”
Lugo said BKS was critical in teaching them interpersonal skills that are necessary in large productions with different types of people and shifting dynamics.
“ I feel like the biggest takeaways from theater is how to become your own person,” Lugo said. “Broadway Kids really transformed my way of thinking in that I didn't have to be like anyone else. I could be myself and be successful.”
IF YOU GO
What: Heathers The Musical Teen Edition
When: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 26, 2 p.m.
Where: Sunrise Civic Center
Information: Find ticket here.
