B Braden d River Ri Kid Kid Is I Just J t A A Born B Performer
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WORDS: Kara Chalmers
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
I met Samantha Haney right after she
auditioned for a role in Aladdin, the
production that Woodland Fine Arts
Academy in Lakewood Ranch will put
on in November. We were chatting on
a bench in the lobby hallway about how
it went, when her mother, Kristy Haney,
asked Samantha if she wanted to perform
her audition song, “One Jump Ahead,”
for me.
“Oh no, that’s OK,” I said quickly, not
wanting to put Samantha on the spot.
But the eight-year-old Braden River
Elementary third-grader was already
up off her seat, eager for a chance to
perform. The song is challenging, as it
includes lines sung not only by Aladdin,
but by angry guards and snobbish
“harem girls.”
Still, like she did in her audition, Samantha
sang beautifully, and also used her body
and facial expressions to portray the
different characters… right in the middle
of the hallway. According to Kristy this
is par for the course for Samantha, who
has been taking musical theater, jazz
lessons, and attending summer camps, at
Woodland Fine Arts Academy, a ministry
of Woodland Community Church, since
she was in kindergarten.
“She’s obsessed with theater,” Kristy said.
“Since she was two, she has been singing
and performing.”
Kristy describes her daughter as lovable,
outgoing, and animated. A teacher at her
school - a teacher Samantha has never
even had - calls her the “happiest kid on
the planet” whenever he sees her.
“We call her ‘The Mayor’ because she
knows everyone,” Kristy said. Later, as
Kristy and I were speaking to one of
Woodland’s instructors, Samantha leapt
and twirled all around the room.
“All day,” Kristy said quietly, gesturing at
her daughter with her thumb. “She does
this all day.”
The Mayor of Musical Theater
What’s interesting about Samantha is
that, while she is clearly a born performer,
she is also soft-spoken. While she’s
comfortable in the limelight, she doesn’t
crave attention. She’s outgoing but polite,
ambitious and con��dent yet thoughtful
and always respectful of others. She
smiles constantly and laughs easily but
can focus on the task at hand.
“She’s a little ray of sunshine,” said
Woodland’s musical theater director Mari
Anne Hernandez, who has worked with
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