After a successful inaugural year, the Drayton Entertainment Youth Musical Theatre Program will return this summer with six, one-week training sessions for aspiring young artists throughout southern Ontario.
The program will also expand to offer a brand new two-week pre-professional production program for teens that will culminate in a concert presentation of FAME – The Musical, Jr.
The program requires an entrance audition and has limited enrolment in order to guarantee personal faculty-student attention. Tuition includes a ticket to a professional Drayton Entertainment production.
Week-long training sessions will be offered in Cambridge (Aug. 14 to 18; ages 13 to 18 and Aug. 21 to 25; ages 8 to 12); Kitchener-Waterloo (July 31 to Aug. 4; ages 10 to 18); Grand Bend (Aug. 7 to 11; ages 10 to 18); and Penetanguishene (July 24 to July 28; ages 10 to 18).
The new pre-professional production program for teens ages 13 to 18 will run from Aug. 14 to 25 at the Dunfield Theatre Cambridge.
Participants will gain hands-on insight into how a musical is cast, rehearsed and performed while they work with a professional creative team to produce a concert version of FAME – The Musical, Jr.
Associate artistic director David Connolly will direct and choreograph the production. Connolly’s résumé includes work on major musicals like the pre-Broadway production of First Wives Club in Chicago and numerous Drayton Entertainment productions like Mamma Mia!, Red Rock Diner and Cinderella: The Panto.
Based on the hit film, FAME is the story of a diverse group of students who study dance, music and drama at New York City’s celebrated High School for the Performing Arts.
Featuring a cast of young characters and a terrific score including hit songs like Hard Work, I Want to Make Magic, Bring on Tomorrow and the Academy-Award-winning title song, the show explores issues that confront many young people today with candor, humor and insight.
Hopefuls are required to sign-up online for an audition at their theatre of choice, along with a photo and résumé outlining experience.
Auditions will be held in the morning on April 2 at Dunfield Theatre Cambridge for the Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo sessions; April 9 at Huron Country Playhouse; and April 23 for Penetanguishene at James Keating Elementary School.
Auditions for the pre-professional production program will be held in the afternoon on April 2 at Dunfield Theatre Cambridge.
Young performers should be prepared to learn the chorus from the song Fame as well a short dance combination, led by the creative team.
More information about the Youth Musical Theatre Program and the new pre-professional production program, including tuition costs and audition requirements, is available at smarturl.it/de-youth-program.
The Youth Musical Theatre program expands on Drayton Entertainment’s existing youth engagement offerings, which include the Children’s Chorus program (enabling young performers to audition for child ensemble roles in the company’s family panto productions and select musicals) and the youth usher program (offering young people the opportunity to gain work experience as theatre ushers).
