Don’t Miss a Beat (DMAB) recently presented their Broadway Edition Summer Program ‘Lion King Jr.’ stage play at the Ritz Theatre in front of hundreds eager to witness students artistic talent. The 17th installment of the annual program was a six-week summer program for school-aged youth to be immersed in the arts. The youth have an opportunity to learn all facets of theater production including acting, dance, drama, spoken word, technical theatre, visual arts, and more.
With hard work and lots of fun, the students’ presentation incorporated vigor, vision and a variety of characters capturing the heralded stage play Broadway longevity. DMAB was founded in 2008 by Douglas Anderson School of the Arts graduate Ulysses Owens, Jr. and his family. Owens began playing drums at just two years old. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Gwendolyn, enrolled him in classical piano lessons and eventually he received a full scholarship to New York’s famed Juilliard School. After graduating from Juilliard in 2006, Owens traveled the world as a jazz drummer, but one day he read about his hometown’s student dropout rate and other youth problems and made the decision to open DMAB community center located inside the Edith Brown Ford Center in Woodstock Park on West Beaver Street.
During the year, the center offers after school and year-round programs for ages 10 – 18. Since 2007, the center has served 20K clients. Supported for their excellence, DMAB has received over one million dollars in the past three years boasting 100% student acceptance into local performing arts schools: Lavilla School of the Arts; Fort Caroline Middle School and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
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