2025 Youth Summer Program

Pre-Teen Musical Theatre Intensive

For students entering grades 5-8 in fall 2025.

Preteen YSP

Program Description

  • Three Weeks: July 21 – August 9, 2025
  • Monday – Friday: 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
  • Performances take place on Saturday, August 9 at 2pm and 6pm.

A great fit for students looking for focused, fast-paced theatre training. The pre-teen program introduces students to the joy of participating in a show. Students work intensely with a director, choreographer and music director over the course of three weeks to perform a junior production of a Broadway show. Broadway Junior musicals are condensed, author-approved versions of classic musicals. Students attend daily classes where material from the show is used to teach them skills in areas of music, drama and dance. Two performances of a 60-minute Broadway Junior show are held at the end of the program.

Please note, this is an intensive program which works at a fast pace and expects students to be flexible, adaptable, responsible, focused and capable of handling a high sensory environment.

2025 Tuition

  • $1,260 (non-refundable)

Registration

Active conservatory students receive early registration access on Thursday, February 20 at 12 PM. Registration opens to the public on Friday, February 21 at 12 PM.

At the time of registration, you may choose to pay just the $300 deposit or the full tuition. Beginning June 1, the full tuition is due at the time of registration. Please fill-in all requested information about your student online. Once you complete your order, you will have registered your student. Additional registration material requests will be included in your registration order confirmation email. You can also register by phone at 877.571.7469. To discuss payment options, contact Chip Miller at 508.471.1763.

Registration for female identifying students is now full. Click below to join the wait list.

Schedule

DatesSchedule
Thursday, February 20, 2025 at noonRegistration Opens for Conservatory Students
Friday, February 21, 2025 at noonRegistration Opens for the Public
Saturday, May 31, 2025Balances and Additional Registration Materials are Due

YSP Pre-Teen Schedule

DateSchedule
Monday, July 21Program Begins,
Monday- Friday:


8:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Classes in Music, Drama, & Dance


11:30 AM - 12 PM: Lunch (Students are asked to bring bag lunches)


12 PM - 2:30 PM: Rehearsals
Saturday, August 9Performances at 2 PM & 6 PM

kids happily leaning on eachother in improv class.

Young students laughing and smiling.

Auditions

Auditions will take place during the first day of the program. All Broadway Junior shows have many featured male and female roles as well as ensemble casts of characters. All participants will be cast in the production. Cast size will be 30-40. Audition materials will be sent to registered students in June after all registration materials have been completed and submitted.

About the Show

Guys and Dolls JR.

Book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling  
Music by Frank Loesser

Set in Damon Runyon’s New York City, Guys and Dolls JR. follows gambler, Nathan Detroit, as he tries to find the cash to set up the biggest crap game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck. Meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide, laments that they’ve been engaged for fourteen years without ever getting married. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson, for the dough, but Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary, Sarah Brown. Guys and Dolls JR. takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, but everyone eventually ends up right where they belong.

Meet Our Educators

Jennifer Keating

Jennifer Keating (Pre-Teen Director) began acting when she enrolled in “The Peter Pan Players” of Worcester at age 7. For the next 10 years, she received specialized musical theatre, dance, and improvisation training, performed in over 50 productions, and performed with their touring company. At 15, she began choreographing and directing the theatre company at her high school. She graduated with a degree in theatre from UMass Amherst, all the while still directing at her high school. She then traveled with professional touring companies, performed in summer stock productions, and eventually landed in NYC, where she worked for Disney Theatricals (The Lion King) and MTV during the day, while she continued her acting career in the evening.  Once she moved back from NYC, she directed MainStage productions at UMass Dartmouth and taught at Theatre Companies throughout the state before she started her family and discovered the homeschool community. She led homeschool theatre classes for five years before founding “A Work in Progress” (now illuminate) in 2013. She recently appeared in a music video for Kelce Mclernon’s single, “Mirrors,” and was selected as a national spokesperson for Noom. She is Secretary of the Attleboro Cultural Council, and is a member of the TDI Attleboro Downtown Partnership, and along with her three children who are active participants in the company, she looks forward to seeing illuminate shine for generations to come!

Leah Marley

Leah Marley (Pre-Teen Music Director) graduated from Anna Maria College with a BA in music education in 2017. Since then, she has been teaching elementary music in the Worcester Public Schools. Leah is a classically trained pianist and has music directed many theater productions in the area including Framingham State University and Clark University. She also is an accompanist and is currently the accompanist for the newly founded Many Voices Youth Singers of Mechanics Hall. 

Jilanne Hobson

Jilanne Hobson (Choreographer) is a highly trained dance instructor in tap, jazz, musical theater and ballet with over 25 years of experience teaching all levels of dancers. She received her Bachelor of Performing Arts at Oklahoma City University under the direction of Jo Rowan. Jilanne then went on to work professionally in various settings, including the Costa Classica cruise line, at Opryland USA in Nashville and as a featured performer at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City for Anita Mann Productions. She trained at The Edge Dance Studio in Los Angeles and also assisted Tony Capolla on the Joe Tremaine Convention circuit. Besides being a dance instructor, Jilanne is a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, who treats patients ranging from pediatric to geriatric in gross motor activity, balance, coordination and strength training. Jilanne is also a Les Mills Certified fitness instructor, teaching classes in Body Combat and Body Flow.

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