<p>I've been lurking on this site since I came here looking for information on musical theater summer programs. I cannot believe the wealth of information I stumbled upon. I'm a bit embarrassed to say this (because we are so early in the process), but based on what I've read here, I hope you will understand. I'm the mother of two children (on dd and one ds) who stumbled upon musical theater early in their lives and they are certainly bitten by the bug.</p>
<p>My daughter is in 7th grade and has focused primarily on voice, taking private lessons for a couple of years now. Her training is pretty classical, coming from the music school in our hometown university.</p>
<p>She is very interested in attending a summer program focusing on voice/musical theater. I've read through the summer program thread and there is some wonderful information in there. However, it is understandably very focused on high school students. Do you have any recommendations for someone earlier in the process? Our other challenge is that she will be performing in a regional theater show from mid-July through early August, and school for her now begins on August 4th! Many of the programs we have investigated (Interlochen, Blue Arts) conflict with her show or run into the beginning of school. (On a sidenote, it will be interesting to see how the balanced calendar school years affect students' ability to take advantage of summer theater training opportunities, especially as arts funding is often being cut from schools).</p>
<p>So, following that long winded introduction, does anyone have recommendations for an early summer program (Juneish) for a student beginning 8th grade in the fall? </p>
<p>Check around locally - we had a great local program here at The Roeper School in Michigan that had 2 sessions - was non audition - but the team that worked with the kids was fabulous. My D never was able to take advantage of it - but did fall and spring shows with the same team. I can’t tell you how many alum of that directing team are either currently in BFA programs, or pursuing professional work in the Arts. Look for something like that near you - find out what summer programs your Regional theaters run. Find out where local kids who are now in BFA programs spent their middle school summers!</p>
<p>Stagedoor Manor is great but may conflict. OCU used to have a middle school/jr high 2 week program you could check on. There are some fun one week programs such as Destination Broadway, Broadway Dreams Foundation and BAA that might fit the bill. There is also Camp Broadway that is similar.</p>
<p>Broadway Artists Alliance, Broadway Dreams and TPAP’s junior high 1 or 2 week program. All of these are non-residential so you’d have to get a hotel room or rent a place for about a week. Is she a strong dancer? If not, forget the camps! SHE NEEDS TO JUST FOCUS ON DANCE NOW!!! Ballet is the foundation. She needs to take it as much as she can fit it into her schedule. Jazz and tap won’t hurt either but LOTS of ballet, please!</p>
<p>@midwestmtmama because you said blue lake I’m thinking you might be in Michigan and if you are purple rose theatre has a teen intensive for kids entering 8th grade up to 12th</p>
<p>Thanks to you all for the suggestions. These are so helpful. We are in Indiana (not Michigan-- but close). These all look like great options. As for dance, she started in ballet as a youngster, and then stopped (darn it!!), because she didn’t want to be a ballerina. But, we have realized the importance of dance, so she is picking it up again. There is a ballet intensive at our university, so I might have her look into that as well. Great suggestions.</p>
<p>I check in every day to see how your kiddos are doing. Fingers crossed for all of them!!</p>
<p>My daughter is in 8th grade now, and I will share with you what she has done so far in the middle school summers in case it is helpful. The summer after 5th grade she performed in a regional theater show. The summers after both 6th and 7th grade, she went to Broadway Artists Alliance in NY, and I definitely recommend that as a first experience on a national level. She also did a one-week teen acting program in LA and two auditioned MT summer programs in our area. This summer, she will be doing a month-long auditioned Shakespeare program for high schoolers at one of the major regional theaters in our area. Moving into high school, she is thinking about auditioning for MT programs at Interlochen or Oklahoma City University for the summer after 9th grade.</p>
<p>I have heard the advice to “grow where you are planted,” and this is what our daughter has done for the most part so far. (We are lucky to live in a fairly large area with good theater.) There are so many more opportunities to have a national level experience the older your kids get.</p>
<p>My daughter also really needs to catch up on her dance, as was advised above!</p>
<p>If you’re looking for something for this summer, you are likely going to be out of luck for most programs. Some of the popular programs will fill up months in advance. There are some great programs for younger kids, e.g., Stagedoor Manor, French Woods, Centauri. You might want to get on some email lists so that you’re sure to get notices of application times this fall for summer 2015.</p>
<p>Warning: Stagedoor is addicting. Once they go, they want to keep going. They’ll beg to go for 2 sessions! For kids like ours, it is heaven on earth. It is my daughter’s favorite place on the planet.</p>
<p>Hah! Thanks for the warning about Stagedoor. I can certainly understand that it might be addicting. And, thanks to everyone, again, for your suggestions. We definitely have piano covered-- since 1st grade. I’ve told both kids that if they want to continue to pursue any form of music, they have to continue with piano. So, we are good there. I probably should have pressed the issue with ballet, but I didn’t. We have her signed up for ballet classes beginning in May, and we are still exploring many of the excellent suggestions you have all made. We will probably end up patching something together for this summer because we are a bit late in the process for some things, but not all. And, we are already thinking about next year (summer after 8th) because many things fill up so quickly. Thanks again!</p>
<p>@midwestmtmama - Best wishes to your D on her journey. Your D is lucky that she knows what she wants at such a young age. As she is already on the right path, it seems she will be super prepared and confident by her senior year!</p>
<p>Look into French Woods. There are early sessions. It is not intense conservatory-style training, more of a camp, but it offers kids singing, acting, and dance classes and the opportunity to be in a musical. It is not intense but the quality of instruction is often excellent and many kids are knock-your-socks-off talented. And in addition to the standards, there is a lake with water skiing, circus arts (including aerial acts), full on music program with orchestras and band, rock/pop bands (Maroon 5 members met there), fine art, video production, horseback riding, sports, etc. It really is heaven on earth for many kids. It was my daughter’s home away from home for 9 summers. And it is not just for little kids. About half the campers are in high school, and you can be a camper thru the age of 17.</p>