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For 'Moonlight' Actors In Miami, The Movie's Real Star Is Their Drama Teacher

Tanisha Cidel, drama teacher at Norland Middle, with her students Jaden Piner (left) and Alex Hibbert (right) who star in the movie Moonlight. (Courtesy Natalie Piner via WLRN)
Tanisha Cidel, drama teacher at Norland Middle, with her students Jaden Piner (left) and Alex Hibbert (right) who star in the movie Moonlight. (Courtesy Natalie Piner via WLRN)

The movie “Moonlight” has been hailed as a breakout film, a coming-of-age story about identity and sexuality.

Two boys — Jaden Pine and Alex Hibbert — had starring roles in the film. Both are students at Norland Middle School in Miami Gardens, a school well-known in Florida’s Miami-Dade County for its theater program.

But as the kids at Norland tell Nadege Green (@NadegeGreen) of Here & Now contributor WLRN, while some of them may be on the big screen, the real star is their drama teacher.

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