Make way for JTF 2020!
Make way for JTF 2020!
We are only seven days away from one of our favorite weekends of the year: the annual Junior Theater Festival! Next weekend, January 17-19, 7,000 people will come together in Atlanta to create the world's largest musical theater stage for young people.
It is our privilege to sponsor this celebration with our friends at Disney Theatrical Group and Playbill. We are counting down the days until we can cheer on all the Broadway Junior stars.
Produced by our incredible partners at iTheatrics, JTF recognizes, empowers, and celebrates the magic of young people and educators creating student-driven musical theater worldwide. In February 2020, MTI will also sponsor JTF West in Sacramento, CA.
At the Junior Theater Festival, theater groups present for adjudication a 15-minute selection from an MTI Broadway Junior® musical. The weekend is also filled with interactive workshops led by Broadway and West End professionals, and many opportunities to gain from professional development. Not to mention dance parties, exclusive star-studded concerts, and once-in-a-lifetime musical theater moments!
- Read More about JTF 2020
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Exclusive to organizations performing MTI's 30 and 60-minute Broadway Junior® musicals, the Junior Theater Festivals bring together the best musical theater professionals from Broadway and beyond with the largest live audience of artists and arts supporters. The 2020 Junior Theater Festival Atlanta will unite 129 student theater groups representing 31 states, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K. The 2020 Junior Theater Festival West, now in its fourth year, will include 2,200 attendees from 48 groups representing 17 states, the U.K., South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia. In addition, iTheatrics co-produces Junior Theater Festivals in New Zealand (21 groups and 652 attendees), Australia (22 groups and 1, 019 attendees), and Europe (47 groups and 2,000 attendees), and hosts one-day Junior Theater Celebrations throughout the U.S. In 2019, over 16,000 people worldwide attended a Junior Theater Festival or Junior Theater Celebration.
During the New Works Showcase, student groups will present selections from new musicals soon to be available in Music Theatre International's Broadway Junior® library of titles: Matilda JR. (Inspiration Stage, Sugar Land, TX); Elephant and Piggie's We Are in a Play JR. (Ohlook Performing Arts Center, Grapevine, TX); The Drowsy Chaperone JR. (Plaza Academy, Cleburne, TX); Disney's Newsies JR. (Red Phoenix Theatre Company and Play On Players, Gainesville, GA), and Disney's Moana JR. (BRAVO!, Oak Park, IL).
JTF Atlanta participants are also in store for a star-studded treat: President & Producer of Disney Theatrical Productions Thomas Schumacher; Caissie Levy Frozen on Broadway); Nicholas Christopher ( Hamilton on Broadway); Jennifer Locke ( Hamilton national tour); creator/Executive Producer Tim Federle, Olivia Rodrigo, and Joshua Bassett High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney + ); Luca Padovan and Isabella Russo ( School of Rock ); Jeff Calhoun Newsies, Between The Lines Rob Rokicki The Lighting Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical ); and Lotte Wakeham ( Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical ) are some of the stars and creatives confirmed for making appearances.
At JTF Atlanta and JTF West, six (total) exceptional educators from schools and performing arts centers around the country will be selected for the 11th annual "Freddie G Fellowship," in which the teachers will receive an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to collaborate with each other and work one-on-one with Broadway greats. Each winning teacher will also receive a $5,000 grant to put toward his or her theater program. The event is underwritten by MTI Co-Chairman Freddie Gershon and Myrna Gershon, Music Theatre International, and iTheatrics, and is a thank-you for all that teachers do to introduce the next generation to Broadway and musical theater.
We look forward to seeing all the talent and passion at JTF2020. See you in Atlanta!
We'll be sharing all the JTF excitement so follow the fun @mtishows on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
