Bay Area Children's Theatre Students to Perform at Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta

Top acting students in the Theatre Education Program of the Bay Area Children’s Theatre (BACT) leave Thursday for Atlanta, GA, to compete in the Junior Theatre Festival (JTF), the world’s largest gathering celebrating musical theatre for young performers.

The troupe of 31 BACT Advanced Performers have been rehearsing Saturdays since October and intensively during the holidays to prepare HONK!, a musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fable about the ugly duckling. The students will perform 15 minutes-worth of excerpts from the show, a Broadway Junior Collection® musical, before musical theatre professionals who will critique their work.

BACT’s Advanced Performers range in age from 8 to 13 and come from communities throughout the East Bay, including Alameda, Oakland, Orinda, Piedmont, Pleasanton and San Ramon. The members were selected by audition—BACT’s only program with that requirement—from among 100 candidates.

“I am awed by the hard work, dedication, and passion for musical theatre that these young performers have shown throughout our rehearsal process,” said Director Amber Dyson, a senior teaching artist with BACT. “We are all very excited by the opportunity to share what we’ve done, learn from other groups, and attend workshops and performances by Broadway professionals.”

The JTF, held annually over the Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend, attracts more than 4,500 attendees, including elementary and middle school performers from all over the world.Produced by the Junior Theater Group and under the educational and artistic supervision of iTheatrics, the festival includes adjudication, workshops, a new works showcase, appearances by Broadway stars, and an award ceremony, among other events. BACT’s Advanced Performers will perform the complete version of HONK! at the Lakeside Theatre, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA, on February 6 and 7. For tickets: https://bactheatre.org/classes/advperformers/honk

((high-res .jpg attached of BACT’s Advanced Performers in rehearsal. Photo credit: Vivian Auslander))

About the Bay Area Children’s Theatre

Established in 2004, the Bay Area Children’s Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, serves more than 72,000 children and adults throughout the Bay Area, with main stage performances in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and San Ramon; selected productions in local schools; and classes and summer camps in more than 10 East Bay communities.

Our Mission: To inspire young audiences with imaginative productions, introduce children of all backgrounds to the excitement of live theatre, and create an engaging, entertaining, and educational environment in which children and their families can explore and enjoy the arts.

How We Carry Out Our Mission:

· Bring high quality, professional theatre to children and their families, with artists who create vibrant worlds that are intriguing to young audiences

· Encourage young people to explore literature, language, and the arts by producing stage adaptations of great children’s books

· Engage preschoolers in the world of theatre with productions specially designed for them

· Develop and perform exciting new work for the stage

· Reach out to children who might not otherwise experience live theatre with free tickets, special performances for school groups, and touring productions at local schools

· Create touring productions for young audiences nationwide

· Partner with communities to meet the need for theatre education

· Introduce children to the joy of performance through our theatre education program