RVC festival sharpens performers’ talent for musical theatre

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Musical theatre enthusiasts sharpened their skills at the Rock Valley College’s (RVC) inaugural music festival on Saturday.

Professor Christopher Joyner started the event as a way to get the community involved in music following the pandemic.

“We’re wanting to start there, just with something that just invites people out to learn a little bit, to get some exposure to some music experience, just to kind of get back involved within the music,” said Joyner.

The professor said each festival will have a different musical theme, and this year’s iteration is musical theatre.

One performer explained why musical theatre means so much to her.

“It’s actually what allowed me to have a voice. I grew up with selective autism. I have autism spectrum disorder,” said Cecil Barnes. “Singing was the first time that I actually spoke. So kind of just using my voice to kind of become somebody else gave me the confidence to just start to talk.”

Participants performed Scarlet Pimpernel at Saturday’s event. Joyner said the performances are all about connecting people to the arts.

“Bringing different people within our community together to honor different areas of music. We all have different interests in terms of our music,” Joyner explained. “So, I want to be able to say, ‘Hey, here, Rock Valley, we hear you. We acknowledge that, and we want to celebrate those.”