Conducting the character of Little Eva is Ja’Liyaha Sanders, a boundless ball of energy of love to give her all into anything she tries. She spent her school days dedicated to choral life, where the foundation of her technique took shape. After graduating she pursued all different types of work enjoying the joys of learning something new but often left feeling dissatisfied with the idea of working to live, rather than living to work. So, she returned to school, thanks to the relentless encouragement of her grandparents, and it is due to their endless spiritual, financial, emotional but most importantly creative support she was able to even pursue higher education in musical theatre. After enduring a year and a half in the wild, rat-filled streets of Manhattan — where she cried (a lot) but thrived spectacularly — she graduated from The American Musical Dramatic Academy. She returns to her beloved home of Akron to begin her career in musical theatre, hopeful to remember why she started this journey: “To inspire others as musical theatre and music in general has inspired me.” She likes to thank Weathervane for giving her the opportunity to appear in her first professional production.