UPDATE: Clayton Student Advances to Talent Finals With Poem Titled 'Lovely Lies'

student Rae Warren advanced to the finals of a St. Louis-area teen talent competition Saturday after performing original poetry.

It happened as part of the semi-finals of the St. Louis Teen Talent Showcase, an event sponsored by the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation.

Warren gave a spoken-word performance of her original poem, Lovely Lies. The poem, which combines introspection with humor and anger, portrays a young woman’s conflicted feelings about love.

Warren asked, “What is love?” and intimated her own experience with being hurt by a first love. The poem builds to a strong conclusion in which Warren admonishes men that “no means no.” It ends: “A man ain’t worth nothing if he hurts you.”

Warren's act was one of 12 chosen for the final round. A total of 25 acts performed Saturday at .

when she began serving as a representative for Clayton High, one of nearly 50 participating schools.

In preparation for the finals, Warren and other participants will work with Broadway choreographer Tony Parise and two St. Louisans, Gerri Stretz and Yvonne Meyer of Professional Dance Center.

Warren and the other students will compete for scholarships and prizes, both for themselves and their schools. Judges will be Betsy Capes of Capes Coaching in New York City; Mike Isaacson of The Muny; Megan Larche of Fox Theatricals in New York City; Steve Woolf of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Michael Uthoff of Dance St. Louis; and Phyllis Smith, a St. Louis native who stars on the NBC TV series The Office.

The finals will happen at 8 p.m. May 6 at the Fox Theatre. The free event will be open to the public.