Palmer Trinity sophomore Giovanna Befeler loves musical theater. She acted in Palmer productions and in local theater. This summer, she went to the Big Apple to attend classes at the Broadway Artist Alliance.
“People who have made it on Broadway come and teach master classes,” she says. “You have to sing a song or perform a monologue or do a dance routing in front of an industry panel that has casting agents and managers.”
She says it was an amazing experience and she met a ton of great people.
“I think I did pretty well,” she says.
Afterward, she received two emails asking for her for her information.
“We contacted one back,” she says. “We are in the process of setting up an audition, which I find very exciting.”
She also received an application to perform at Carnegie Hall.
“I’m going to be sending in an application for that,” she says. “Hopefully we’ll see soon if I get into that.”
At Palmer, she was just in the production of Little Shop of Horrors, playing one of the doowop girls. In the past she’s played Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and the Elle understudy in Legally Blonde as well as one of the sorority sisters.
She’s also acted in a show at Miami Children’s Theater and is auditioning for a show at Area Stage.
“I was in my first show when I was seven,” she says. “I was Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.”
That theater company is now defunct. They used to stage plays at the old Museum of Science.
She looks forward to any chance to be on stage.
“I just enjoy it so much,” she says.
That extends to other types of performances – she also plays trumpet in the school band.
Although acting is her favorite thing to do, she also participates in other Palmer activities. She went on the Nicaragua mission trip last year.
“We go to Nicaragua for about a week. We build a house for a family there,” she says. “We visit kids in an orphanage there and we built a house for the family. It was a really cool experience.”
While there she shoveled dirt to build the foundation for the house and helped mix cement and take it to where it could be used for the walls.
“It (the house) was basically one big room,” she says.
The students on the trip would alternate between building the house and playing with the street kids.
“We brought them jump ropes, and soccer balls and coloring books,” she says.
Befeler is also a member of the Big Bull/Little Bull Club that goes to Holmes Elementary in Liberty City and helps children better their reading skills.
“You are paired up with a little kid and they read and if they get stuck on a big word, you might help them,” she says.
The teens help the children with homework as well. She formed a bond with the girl she worked with. She says the girl improved her reading last year.
“If I had taught her a word the week before, she remembered the week after,” Befeler says. “It was cool to be a part of that.”
Befeler is also a member of the Eco Club at Palmer. Club members participate in beach and mangrove clean-ups. The last time they did a mangrove clean-up at Black Point Marina, she and her friends went deep into the mangrove and brought out three jumbo tires.
“They said the tires have been there since Hurricane Andrew,” she says.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
