Sharing and caring are focus of Merced performance of ‘The Selfish Giant’

Scores of Merced schoolchildren got a free show Friday that featured lessons in generosity and being kind to one another.

Building Young Leaders, a private organization that works to teach leadership skills to young people, put on the performance of a musical adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic “The Selfish Giant.”

The performance featured about 85 children from about 4 to 18 years old, according to organization Director Wendy Spencer.

Wilde’s short story is about a beautiful garden owned by a giant. As the story begins, children frolic on the grass and enjoy the plants growing within the yard. But the giant quickly runs them all off and builds a wall around it.

He eventually begins to have a change of heart when a boy stuck in a tree needs his help. “It’s a story of becoming better,” Spencer said. “It’s about love and friendship and caring for others around us.”

The organization encourages its students to be socially active and socially minded, she said.

Some Merced residents may recognize Building Young Leaders because children in the spring led the Promise Merced campaign, when they asked people to recite and sign a pledge to speak positively about the city. Children in the group have also been known to run their own fundraising campaigns for efforts such as breast cancer research, Spencer said.

The organization puts on a few performances a year, Spencer said, and “Giant” was its first musical.

Reyna Padilla, 14, a Merced High School freshman, said “it’s a thrill” to be able to sing and dance before a live audience. She said she hoped theatergoers would learn something.

“They should learn that sharing is really important (and) not to be selfish,” she said.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Sharing and caring are focus of Merced performance of ‘The Selfish Giant’."