Education NewsRegistration Open for 2023 Junior Theater Festivals
The weekend-long events in Atlanta and Sacramento celebrate everything youth theatre.
By
Logan Culwell-Block
April 01, 2022
NWS Spotlight Theatre Productions (Sarasota, FL) students perform Disney’s Aladdin JR. during the JTF Atlanta New Works Showcase in which select groups perform songs from new or updated musicals that will soon be made available for licensing by Music Theatre International.
Registration is now open for iTheatrics' Junior Theater Festivals, planned for January 13-15, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia, and February 17-19 in Sacramento, California.
JTF celebrates musical theatre and musical theatre education with a weekend of events and performances that bring Broadway and West End professionals together with educators and young students. Youth theatre companies can bring 15-minute staged selections from titles in musical licensor Music Theatre International's Broadway Junior collection for adjudication, after which students attend interactive workshops. Students interested in technical theatre can participate in the tech track, which includes the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals backstage for the festival's mainstage events.
Educators, whether bringing a group of students or attending individually, have access to professional development workshops. Educators traveling with groups have the chance of being selected for the Freddie G Fellowship. Named for MTI Co-Chairman Freddie Gershon, the fellowship is bestowed annually on eight exceptional educators and includes an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for professional development with Broadway greats and a $5,000 grant for the educator's theatre program.
The events are often also host to special celebrity guests for panels, performances, and other festival programming. Past attendees have included Stephen Ahrens and Lynn Flaherty, Skylar Astin, Shoshana Bean, Nicholas Christopher, Darren Criss, Zac Efron, Cynthia Erivo, Megan Hilty, Arielle Jacobs, Kenny Leon, Caissie Levy, Kara Lindsay, Lindsay Mendez, Alan Menken, Ben Platt, and Jeanine Tesori.
JTF West in Sacramento began in 2017, the first expansion of iTheatrics' Junior Theater Festival Atlanta, which has since spawned similar celebrations in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia.
PHOTOS: Go Inside the 2020 Junior Theater Festivals
PHOTOS: Go Inside the 2020 Junior Theater Festivals
These events in Atlanta and Sacramento gathered young performers from around the world for a weekend of celebrating theatre.
40 PHOTOS
Junior Theater Festival Executive Producer and iTheatrics Founding Chairman Timothy Allen McDonald welcomes attendees to Pathways to Success. 7,000 people participated in the 2020 Junior Theater Festival Atlanta.
Students from Red Phoenix Theatre Company in Lawrenceville, GA and Play On Players in Duluth, GA perform selections from Disney's Newsies JR. at the 2020 JTF Atlanta
Students from Ohlook Performing Arts perform selections from Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are In A Play!” JR. at the New Works Festival at the 2020 JTF Atlanta
Students from Plaza Academy perform selections from Drowsy Chaperone JR. at the 2020 JTF Atlanta New Works Showcase
Students from Inspiration Stage in Sugar Land, TX perform selections from Roald Dahl's Matilda JR. at the 2020 JTF Atlanta New Works Showcase
Students from BRAVO perform selections from Disney's Moana JR. at the 2020 JTF Atlanta New Works Showcase
Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway's Rob McClure surprises the audience with performances from the upcoming Broadway musical at JTF Atlanta
Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway’s Rob McClure and Analise Scarpaci perform a song from the upcoming Broadway show at JTF Atlanta
Playbill's Felicia Fitzpatrick and Logan Culwell-Block at the Saturday Playbill Trivia Showdown
Disney+'s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series stars Joshua Bassett (Ricky) and Olivia Rodrigo (Nini) perform at the 2020 Junior Theater Festival’s Pathways to Success panel
Marcus Woollen for the Junior Theater Festival
Festival correspondents and Broadway stars Isabella Russo and Luca Padovan (School of Rock) during the festival’s Pathways to Success panel
Marcus Woollen for the Junior Theater Festival
Actors Nicholas Christopher and Jennifer Locke (Hamilton) during the festival’s Pathways to Success panel
Playbill's Logan Culwell-Block and Felicia Fitzpatrick host a second Playbill Trivia Showdown on Sunday at JTF Atlanta
Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line) accepts the 2020 Broadway Junior Spirit Award with PS 124 principal Alice Hom. The award is given to a group which embodies the spirit of educational musical theater.
Freddie G Outstanding Production winner Uptown Music Theatre from New Orleans performing “He Lives In You” from Disney’s The Lion King JR. at the Freddie G closing ceremony
Woodford Theatre wins the 2020 Playbill Community Service Award at JTF Atlanta
Freddie G Outstanding Production recipient Acting Upon Faith Productions from Van Zandt, LA performs “Be Prepared” from Disney’s The Lion King JR.
Freddie G Outstanding Production recipient Conwell Kids Drama Program in Jersey City perform “Let The Sun Shine On” from Frozen JR. during the Freddie G Awards Show
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' Michael Di Bianco and Lane Beauchamp present the Freddie G Outstanding Student Direction & Choreography award at the 2020 Junior Theater Festival Awards Ceremony
Freddie G Outstanding Production recipient Mountain City Center for the Arts in Frostburg, MD, perform “Oh The Thinks You Can Think” from Seussical JR. during the Freddie G Awards ceremony
Students from Mill Creek Musical Theatre in Nolensville, TN, perform “Human Heart” from Once On This Island JR. during the Freddie G Awards ceremony
Students from Tampa Bay Performing Arts in Palm Harbor, FL and Magic Curtain Productions in Orlando, FL take part in the Junior Theater Festival Tech Olympics
Caissie Levy (Caroline, or Change; Frozen) performs the Junior Theater Festival’s headlining concert
Marcus Woollen for the Junior Theater Festival
Timothy Allen McDonald kicks off JTF West 2020 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion in Sacramento, California
West Lake School for the Performing Arts student Amarech Mendez performs the National Anthem
Students from Musical Mayhem Productions in Elk Grove, California perform selections from Mary Poppins JR. during Saturday morning adjudications.
Broadway Newsies director Jeff Calhoun gives Musical Mayhem students feedback during adjudications
Lightning Thief composer and lyricist Rob Rokicki works with the Musical Mayhem students
Disney Theatrical Productions President and Producer Thomas Schumacher gives the JTF West festival keynote
Students from Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre perform selections from Disney's Newsies JR. at the New Works Showcase
Students from Poison Apple Productions perform selections from The Drowsy Chaperone JR. at the New Works Showcase
Students from KidsAlive! perform selections from Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play! JR. at the New Works Showcase
Spark of Creation student Celeste Javier performing the title role of Disney's Moana JR. in the New Works Showcase
Students from British Theatre Academy in Leatherhead, Surrey perform selections from Roald Dahl's Matilda JR. at the New Works Showcase
Jason Gotay performs from the upcoming Off-Broadway musical Between the Lines during the festival's Pathways to Success event
Musical Mayhem Productions, a Freddie G Outstanding Production recipient, performs a selection from Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins JR. for all festival attendees at the Freddie G Awards Ceremony
Outstanding performers from the festival, named JTF West All-Stars, perform during the JTF West Freddie G Awards show
Marcus Woollen
Dear Edwina, Junie B. Jones, and Enchanted writers Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich perform the headlining concert
Fame, Footloose, and The Big One-Oh! writer Dean Pitchford performs at the headlining concert
Kate Reinders hosted the in-person and live-streamed ceremony celebrating high school musical theatre excellence at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre June 27.
The initiative from the Educational Theatre Association, Disney Theatrical Group, and Music Theatre International will see schools competing for their state's exclusive performing rights to the Disney musical.
The Shubert Foundation event, set for May 23 at Broadway's Winter Garden, will also feature Denée Benton, Jessica Hecht, Nathaniel Stampley, and more.
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