By Shira Devora Steinberg, Madricha

Last Wednesday night the Derech Emunah students successfully performed their musical and dance production, "The Real Deal." Two hundred and twenty-five women and girls from our greater Seattle community and Vancouver, BC, enjoyed an incredible play in which all Derech Emunah students participated.

Countless hours of practice and fun filled the last two months leading up to the eagerly anticipated "showtime" day. Working together, our students explored their different talents and skill sets. We discovered just how talented our fellow students are - often in ways, we would never suspect.

The play was a fantastic opportunity to display these "hidden" talents. Who knew we had such amazing actresses, dancers, comedians, and rappers roaming the halls of Derech Emunah?

A successful production requires many different tasks including acting, dance, comedy, props, playbill, sound effects, vocals, tickets, and advertising. Everyone found the role that suited them best to showcase their creative talents. More importantly,  all the students learned how to work together as a team. 

I was so impressed with how girls came forward to offer help on various aspects of the play and how they worked together to find creative solutions to the different challenges they encountered.

Preparing for the play was also an excellent opportunity to work together with various members of the Seattle community who generously offered their talent and time to help us successfully stage this spectacular event.

It was tremendously rewarding to see the culmination of all our girls' hard work, energy, and efforts result in a magnificent production. I am so proud of them!