CLEVELAND — It's not every day local talent makes a stop on a national tour at Playhouse Square. Friday night, fans are ready to see Esita "Flyya" Calhoun take the stage.
"We have been waiting for this moment. We got tickets quite a while ago, group tickets for a whole bunch of us, so we're just excited," said Denise Abboud, a fan of Flyya and member of the Wine and Goldies dance team.
"I was on the Scream Team four years, then two years I was the captain, and then for a year I was the assistant coach of the Wine and Goldies," Calhoun said.
"Flyya is a wonderful coach. She was assistant coach for a team that we were on. She is very patient, she teaches well, she models well, she is just a person that is a joy to work with and for," said Abboud.
The empty seats inside the State Theater will be filled Friday night at showtime with Flyya's fans.
"Wine and Goldies, ever since I started coaching them, they are amazing, they've always been so supportive, they've always been in my corner. It's going to be amazing to see them," Calhoun said.
"So many people who know her are coming, we are going to fill that audience with familiar folks and cheer her on, along with the entire production of course, but we are most proud to be able to see her," said Abboud.
Flyya is in the ensemble of "Hip Hop Nutcracker." She can't wait to flip and spin on the stage and show young Cleveland dancers what they can achieve.
"Inspiring the next generation of dancers, like there's a lot of kids that come to the show, and interacting with them is really great," Calhoun said.
The 20th stop of the national tour is the most special, a different kind of homecoming for the holidays.
"Just to have in front of us on our wonderful Playhouse Square stage is just going to be an experience we're not going to be able to repeat," Abboud said.
"It's amazing to come back to Cleveland honestly because we've been to California, Colorado, Oregon, so to come back to Cleveland and be kind of like the hometown hero, it's like a really nice feeling," said Calhoun.
