For those of you who missed the Young Americans performance Tuesday night, there is another show tonight at the Niles High School Auditorium.

I had never heard of it before the program came to Niles this year. For those of you who also don’t know what it is, Young Americans is an outreach program with about 250 extremely talented (young, but many aren’t American) individuals who sing, dance and teach children in grades 3 through 12 an hour-long performance in a mere two-day span.

I have seen troupes like this before, and I was totally surprised. The performers themselves are amazing — they could easily be working as professional vocalists, musicians and dancers, but choose to spend their time traveling the world and giving children opportunities to expand their creative abilities.

The two-act show starts with the Young Americans performers, and concludes with the kids. I can’t imagine teaching 280 kids to do singing and dancing numbers in two days, and the children did a great job. They exuded lots of enthusiasm, and many even had solo parts. The show also includes modern songs that many people know, and the performers had costumes to go with their various acts as they moved from genre to genre.

When I was in school, I performed for several years in productions by a similar company called Missoula Children’s Theatre, and I can tell you our plays were not nearly as impressive as the Young Americans shows.

These kids have a great opportunity every few years this tour rolls around, so don’t miss the next show tonight.

Katie Rohman is the managing editor of the Niles Daily Star, Off the Water, Cassopolis Vigilant and Edwardsburg Argus. She can be reached at (269) 687-7713 or at katie.johnson@leaderpub.com.