In a studio tucked away in a Pompano Beach business district, Kevin Yungman is working on a dream. For the past few months, the aspiring performer has been singing and dancing nearly 10 hours a day, almost every day, trying to get ready for his biggest part yet.

At just 17, Kevin has a featured role in a major holiday production headed for the national spotlight.

``Being part of the show is just something I never would have dreamed of in my life,'' said the Weston teen, who is a junior at Cypress Bay High School.

For now, Kevin has traded campus life to be a part of Cirque Dreams Holidaze, a new holiday musical by Cirque Productions coming to Hard Rock Live Wednesday through Nov. 8. Kevin, who will play the role of the drummer soldier boy, is one of four main singers in the show, which features an international cast of acrobats, aerialists, dancers, singers and musicians. After its Florida debut in Hollywood, cast and crew will set out on an eight-week East Coast tour.

``I can't wait to get out on the tour and see what it is really like,'' Kevin said.

The show shares a European-style circus sensibility with Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil, but the two are not affiliated.

The Cirque Productions role is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Kevin came across earlier this year at an audition in Aventura. He won a chance to be in the production Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy for a one-time performance at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. The company's creative team saw enough of Kevin's talent during that May show that they asked him to stay on for all eight performances. A short time later, Neil Goldberg, Cirque Production's creative and artistic director, called Kevin and asked if he would be interested in a role in Cirque Dreams Holidaze.

``I was speechless. I thought he was joking,'' Kevin said.

Now Kevin's days are filled with costume fittings and rehearsals at Dream Studios in Pompano Beach, where there is a full-scale set that replicates the stage at Hard Rock Live. Though singing is his prime passion, being on stage in any capacity is something he said he's wanted all his life. His parents said Kevin sang before he even spoke, and he has been taking singing and dancing lessons since he was 11. He has appeared with local theater troupes in Weston and Miami, and considers both tremendous learning experiences for what lies ahead.

``You have just got to take one thing at a time, because you never know what is coming next,'' Kevin said.

The show is a musical extravaganza that will offer acrobatic feats, characters balancing on thin wires above the stage, flipping in midair and more.

A 30-foot tree sits in the middle of the action. The characters, dressed as ornaments and dangling from the tree, each come down and tell their story in a high-energy blend of circus artistry and pageantry.

Kevin is on stage for most of the show and has his own solo number. He says the hardest part is learning how to meld his singing with the elaborate choreography.

``Every step, every movement has to be on time,'' he said.

Directing him every step of the way is Goldberg, who sometimes sees up to 100 different performers in each city when he holds auditions. He said instinct told him Kevin had something special.

``There was just something in his demeanor and his projection and his performance that was different than the typical musical theater vocalist,'' Goldberg said.

The auditions are part of Goldberg's ``Run Away with Cirque Dreams Contest,'' which can give aspiring performers a chance to parlay a winning audition into a full-time job. Goldberg said the experience of going out on a national tour will give Kevin a unique edge that will put him on a caliber with Broadway performers.

``It's not just about singing a song,'' Goldberg said. ``It is about acting, it is about touring, it's about integrating your skills in with 35 other performers that collectively speak 12 different languages and whose cultural differences have to all assimilate within a touring family.''

The show will wrap on Dec. 29 and Kevin, who is taking online courses now, plans to become a full-time student again. He says he misses his friends and finds life in a production a bit lonely at times, but he is committed to living out his dream of performing on stage, whether on Broadway or in a music studio.

``I want to do anything on stage,'' he said, ``that will get to people's hearts with my music.''

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