Fourteen students, ages 11 to 15 (and 4th grader Katherine Richey performing the role of Milky White), presented selections from Into the Woods, Jr. for Broadway performer Jeny Foote (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Rock of Ages, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies) and Michael Bobbit, Producing Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC.
Said Foote, “It is just amazing work to be able to handle Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. These students exhibited great character work by all.” Bobbit added, “You can tell that these kids love what they are doing. It makes me love my job even more. I am thankful for them.”
The group will perform the musical in its entirety for our community March 21st and 22nd at the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center in downtown Alexandria. Tickets are $10.00 and may be purchased at the door, or in advance by visiting www.ACDSonline.tix.com.
Chandler Higgins and Claire Marie Miller were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of two outstanding performers from each group attending the festival. The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 4,500 festival attendees. Created by New York’s iTheatrics and produced by the Junior Theater group, the Junior Theater Festival is the world’s largest musical theater festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theater. Title sponsors of the 2014 festival were Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Group, and Playbill.
The students who traveled to the 2014 Junior Theater Festival on behalf of Alexandria Country Day School (ACDS) Tiger Entertainment in this potograph courtesy of James Barker/The Junior Theater Festival are: Hunter Andries, Regan Brewer, Mia Broussard, Makinley Covington, Chandler Higgins, Emma Kinberger, Claire Marie Miller, Morgan Miller, Rylee Rayburn, Gracie Reichman, Katherine Richey, Christian Salazar, Spencer Sanders and Taylor Scott.
Tony-nominated composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Andy Jones (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella), Heidi Blickenstaff (The Little Mermaid), Ashley Brown (the original Mary Poppins), Merle Dandridge (Tarzan, Aida), Josh Strickland (the original Tarzan), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies), and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), were some of the Broadway stars on hand to applaud the 4,500 students and teachers representing 93 groups from 26 states and the District of Columbia at the festival.
The Junior Theater Festival offered an enthusiastic environment for students and teachers to interact with thousands of others who share their passion for musical theater. In addition to presenting a 15-minute selection from a musical, both students and teachers participated in interactive workshops led by Broadway and West End professionals, gained from professional development and enjoyed great theatrical fellowship.
