Note: The following item was provided to Polk.Today. – KtE

During the 2021 Junior Theater Festival (JTF) in Sugarland, Texas, twelve-year-old Rockmart, GA native, Isabella Horne was named one of the All-Stars for the From the Top Theatrics (FT3) theater company. JTF awards the All-Star title to honor the two most noteworthy performers of each theater company.

FT3’s other 2021 All-Star is sixteen year old Samarah Destin.

Horne’s interest in the arts began when she took her first ballet class at 18 months of age. She was in her first theater production at age five, in which she played the fictional Queen Kadafay in Kings and Queens of the Nile written by Willie Mae Samuel of The African American Connection of the Performing Arts.

At age six, she was chosen by the Atlanta Hawks Cheerleaders as the youngest member of the Junior Hawks dance squad.

In 2019, as a summer intensive student with Joffrey Ballet, Horne performed in Spectrum at the Gershwin Theater in NY, New York.

Horne was chosen to portray adult Nala in FT3’s March 2021 performance of Disney’s The Lion King JR. She was overjoyed to be given the part and worked intensely to bring the character to vibrant life, which resulted in her soul-wrenching performance of Nala’s Shadowland solo. Horne reprised the Nala role during the JFT performance.

When asked how she felt about winning the All-Stars award, Horne stated that she could not believe that she won during her first time performing at JTF. She says she is so grateful to be given the opportunity to do something she loves while being guided and encouraged by so many people she admires.

JTF brings together student musical theater troupes from all over the world for a weekend of musical theater mayhem and madness. Each troupe performs fifteen minutes from a Broadway Junior®️ show for adjudication by a panel of musical theater experts.

The weekend also features workshops for students, a New Works showcase featuring new musical adaptations soon to be released, and concludes with a grand finale concert headlined by Broadway’s best!

The Junior Theater Festival is sponsored by Playbill, Disney Musicals, and Music Theatre International.