Shakori Trott was a bundle of nerves as he sat waiting to take the stage.

The 19-year-old, who is partially deaf, doesn’t always hit notes properly.

He knew he’d have to sing to get a role in the musical The Colour Purple.

He was about to walk out of the audition when he heard his name.

“Then I found my feet walking towards the stage,” he said. “I didn’t tell the producers about my hearing, but I think they probably saw my hearing aid. I thought they were going to be very coldhearted but actually they were very nice, and very patient. I can act and dance, but I can’t sing, and my nervousness made it worse. I sang Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé, one of my idols.”

According to the teenager, he “killed the audition”. He’ll play Chief Africa when the Troika production opens next month, and is also an extra.

The cast is now busy with rehearsals. Mr Trott admitted he sometimes struggles to hear stage directions.

“It can be a challenge working with people who are hearing,” he said. “You can’t always ask people to slow down or repeat things. But I am slowly learning to adjust. It can be challenging, but I’m not going to let it stop me from doing what I want to do.”

Until the Troika audition he’d never heard of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel or the Broadway musical and the film featuring Oprah Winfrey that followed.

“After the audition, I went home and learnt everything I could about it by watching the movie, and YouTube videos about it,” said Mr Trott.

“I didn’t even know Oprah could act.”

He has loved performing since the age of eight, when he played The Three Pigs’ dad in a school play.

“My teacher put me in that play because she knew my sense of humour,” he said. “She wanted to see how gifted I was when I was on stage. I remember being so scared that my heart was pounding out of my chest. My teacher gave me a little nudge to get on stage.”

Once he got going though, he felt like he’d come home.

“I struggled in school; art and drama were the only subjects I liked,” he said. “Every time I went to drama class, all the stress and reasons I hated school just went away.”

In 2013 he saw his first Troika production and “went home regretting that I wasn’t in it”.

“It looked like so much fun. I vowed to do whatever I could to get on that stage.”

The next year, he took part in a weeklong performing arts intensive by the company.

“It was the best time I ever had in my entire life,” he said. “I just loved the environment, the singing, the dancing, making new friends.”

He was so inspired, it led him to the audition for The Colour Purple.

“I used to let my hearing get in the way of showing people who I am and what I can do,” he said. “Then my godmother told me, ‘You can’t just hide in your bedroom forever. God placed you on this Earth for a reason. You need to show people what a beautiful person you are and that you have a beautiful soul.’

“I thought about it over and over. I was sick and tired of wishing that I was on stage and that I was confident. Now I am having the best time of my life. It is literally the reason I get out of bed every morning. My only regret is not doing it sooner.”

He graduates from CedarBridge Academy in November. After a stint at the Bermuda College, he’s hoping to study theatre in England.

“I want to do something like I am doing with Troika,” he said. “I could be a drama or dance teacher.

“I just love being with other people and coming together and creating something beautiful, creative and magical.”

The Colour Purple runs through August 24-27 at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets, $50 for opening night, $60 for Friday and Saturday shows and $125 for a Thursday gala performance, are available at www.ptix.bm.

• For more information see www.troikabda.com.