The Junior Theater Festival Atlanta united more than 6,000 students and educators from 130 educational musical theater groups.
Students from Curtain Call Performing Arts Center in Mt. Laurel won national awards and earned recognition at the 2018 Junior Theater Festival Atlanta, which happened Jan.12 through Jan. 14 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
The Junior Theater Festival Atlanta united more than 6,000 students and educators from 130 educational musical theater groups representing 30 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
There were 34 Curtain Call Performing Arts Center students, ages 9 through 16, who presented selections from “Shrek the Musical JR.” for Lotte Wakeham (Broadway’s “Matilda the Musical” associate director) and educator and music director Derek Bowley (Kennedy Center tour and premiere of “The Phantom Tollbooth,” world premiere of “The Trumpet of the Swan” at the Kennedy Center, contributing author on “School of Rock” and “Something Rotten Broadway” study guides)
“Curtain Call Performing Arts Center’s company entered the stage with great poise,” Wakeham said. “Its performers were impressively disciplined and focused. I was very impressed by the cast’s comedic skills. This company gave us great energy and lots of detailed character acting as they brought these fairy tale characters to life. Curtain Call Performing Arts Center gave us a very assured and lively performance, from a group of talented performers.”
Curtain Call Performing Arts Center’s Connor Zeidman, Audrey Floyd, Erika Kessler, Nick Vitale and AJ Love were among 240 students who made it to the call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals.
The shoots will be taped in New York City this summer.
The Broadway Junior scouts were on the lookout for outstanding students, out of 6,000 people at the festival, 805 were invited to audition for iTheatrics resident choreographer Steven G. Kennedy.
The final cast will be determined later this year.
These videos will be used in tens of thousands of schools across the country and internationally
Curtain Call Performing Arts Center AJ Love and Mikai Harris were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of outstanding performers attending the festival. The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 6,000 festival attendees.
Produced by the Junior Theater Group in partnership with iTheatrics, a leading educational theater company that creates innovative experiences and products for the public and private sector, the Junior Theater Festival Atlanta is the world’s largest festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theater. This year’s title sponsors were Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Group, and Playbill, Inc®. The Junior Theater Festival was founded in 2003. In 2010 the festival became an annual event.
