Appling 11-year-old will play munchkin

Jamiah Hudson was in Wal-Mart when she got the call that she had landed the role of a munchkin in True Colors Theater Company's production of The Wiz! in Atlanta.

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"I was so excited that I was just jumping up and down and cheering," the 11-year-old Appling girl said.

Being on stage is nothing new for the Greenbrier Middle School pupil. Hudson has been performing for most of her life, singing in children's choirs and gospel groups since she was just a toddler.

"I began singing when I was 2, and then led my first song at church when I was 5," Jamiah said. "I began performing at gospel groups when I was 8 and started acting when I was 9."

She also has done modeling, won many awards for her talents and has even released a CD. But her mom, Ronica Cummings, said this is Jamiah's first major on-stage production.

"We are all so excited for her," Cummings said. "It's wonderful, and she is really enjoying it. She's having a lot of fun at the rehearsals and we've met a lot of great people. Her friends here are all really happy for her as well, and a group of them are getting together to go to Atlanta to see her perform."

The theater company also is pleased with Jamiah.

"She's great," said Jenny Constantino, the communications director for the theater company. "She is quite the talented little munchkin."

The Wiz! is an urban update of the classic children's story The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It features an all-youth, multicultural cast and will run from Dec. 20-30 at the Rialto Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Jamiah said her role is in the Mice Squad, "different mice dressed up as police officers. I am one of them, and I am also in the ensemble, so I get to sing, too. It's great!"

Jamiah and her mom drive to Atlanta each day after school for the rehearsals and spend all day Saturday there.

"She has to leave school a bit early each day in order for us to try and beat the Atlanta traffic," Cummings said. "Our only day off is Sunday. But we have a lot of fun, and I get to be one of the chaperones for the kids on Saturdays, so it's worth it."

Jamiah admitted that the rehearsals are hard work but was quick to add that all of the people she works with are a great team.

"I like my director," she said. "He's really nice."

Cummings said she is delighted that her daughter got the part.

"I am just so proud of her," she said. "She is such a blessing."