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Graduate Profile: City Tech Graduating Senior Cindy-Lou Edwards Sets Stage to Offer Children Respite from Trouble at Home
"I've heard a lot of children in my Sunday school classes say, 'Why did Daddy hit Mommy yesterday?' Or, 'Why is Mommy crying again?'" explains Cindy-Lou Edwards. "I want kids to be able to focus on being kids and enjoy their childhood. I want them to have a place where they can come and dress up and pretend to be a duck or a little princess and have fun."
Edwards, who is graduating with a bachelor of technology degree in entertainment technology from New York City College of Technology (City Tech) on June 3, plans to use what she has learned in her classes to make a difference in young people's lives: she's planning to start a children's theatre company.
The 26 year old says leaving her loving, close-knit family in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1998 to study at City Tech was not easy, but the college's nationally unique entertainment technology program intrigued her. Living alone in Park Slope often proved to be difficult, but Edwards says she was fortunate to find some strong support in her new environment. "The staff and professors at City Tech are like my family," she says. "Everyone is on a first name basis here."
The guidance she received and her own perseverance enabled Edwards to excel in her studies, making the Dean's List each of her semesters at the college and earning a 3.9 grade point average. In addition to mastering the technical aspects of running a lightboard and designing a set, she learned about the managerial aspects of the entertainment industry, "knowledge that will help me get my children's theatre off the ground," she says.
While preparing to start her own theatre, Edwards will do production management work to pay the bills and apply for grants. She hopes to obtain funds to put together a children's show based on the "Henny Penny" tale for the Long Island Children's Museum. This summer, she will be the company manager for the "Celebrate Brooklyn" festival of performing arts events held at the Prospect Park Band Shell.
"I already wrote the script for 'Henny Penny' and have been working on it as a project towards my degree," Edwards explains. "I've done the stage designs, lighting positions and sound hook-ups. I'd like to adapt more stories like that for the stage since they really have a connection for kids."
Edwards' experience in the theatre has included spending time on stage as well as behind the scenes. As an adolescent in Tobago, Edwards acted, sang and danced in musicals, including performing at the Cacique Awards, the country's equivalent of the Oscars. After graduating from high school Edwards continued to act while working in a community program that assisted in developing local theatre and the artistic talents of young people.
In December 1997 she decided to pursue her theatrical dreams in a university setting and -- a mere eight months after finding out about City Tech from a friend of her dad's who was a professor there -- was in Brooklyn registering for classes.
She's still moving quickly. A typical week consists of studying, working behind the scenes and sometimes onstage at the college's resident theatre company, TheatreWorks. She's even done the occasional stint Off-Off Broadway and found time to start writing plays. Then there's tutoring fellow students in classes like construction technology and philosophy. She also works at the Arts at St. Ann's program as assistant to the production manager and, of course, volunteers at church (the John Huf Moravian Church).
Throughout her time at City Tech Edwards says she has been privileged to have so much support. Financially, she was able to afford to study full time with the help of a Helena Rubinstein Foundation Scholarship. Instituted at City Tech in 2000, the $1,500 annual scholarship is awarded to outstanding female baccalaureate degree candidates studying in fields in which women are statistically underrepresented.
"Apart from my faith in God, family has been my backbone," she says. Her parents and siblings will be in New York to see her graduate this June. Undoubtedly they are just as full of pride as her City Tech family.
"Cindy-Lou Edwards represents the cream of the City Tech crop," says John Huntington, associate professor of entertainment technology. "She is incredibly motivated, dedicated and hard working, and has a fantastic positive attitude. She will go as far as she wants to go in the entertainment industry, and the entertainment technology faculty will be proud to have played some small part in her success."
