Auditions
Auditions
NEWSIES JR JTF AUDITIONS
Riverside Theatre’s Junior Theatre Festival Academy presents Newsies the Musical JR – our 2027 Junior Theatre Festival Selection!
We are thrilled to be bringing one of our students' favorite shows to the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta: Disney's NEWSIES JR! An award winning musical based on the Disney live-action movie with music by Alan Menken, Newsies tells the true story of the young newsboys in turn-of-the-century New York City. When they learn they are being taken advantage of by powerful, duplicitous newspaper publishers, they discover they are stronger when united and create a movement to fight for what's right!
The Junior Theatre Festival (JTF) is, in their own words, “the world’s biggest and best celebration of young people performing musical theater. JTF brings together student musical theater troupes from all over the world for a weekend of musical theater mayhem and madness. Each troupe performs fifteen minutes from a Broadway Junior show for adjudication by a panel of musical theater experts. The weekend also features professional development for teachers, workshops for students and parents, a New Works Showcase featuring new musical adaptations soon to be released and concludes with a grand finale concert headlined by Broadway’s best!” More about the JTF itself can be found HERE.
To submit an online audition, please fill out the form linked below and send videos and headshots through the appropriate links NO LATER THAN 4pm on JULY 3rd 2026. Any other information needed after (such as select callbacks if necessary) will be sent out at a date to be announced later. For more information on Riverside Theatre please visit our official site at www.riversidetheatre.com.
PLEASE NOTE: Anyone cast must participate in the Junior Theatre Festival (JTF) in Atlanta, GA to present 15 minutes in competition January 14-18, 2027. Additional fees for the festival are usually kept low for students, likely around $100. Students 10 and under going to JTF must have a parent travel to Atlanta with them
NEW FOR 2027 – A complimentary bus to Atlanta, funded by the Riverside Friends Committee, will be an option for all students at no cost!
ALSO NOTE: Because this is for the JTF, this version will ONLY rehearse and perform the 15 minute selection for the festival performance., and with no costumes, sets, props, etc in the restrictions of JTF. If you are interested instead in performing the entire show, audition instead for the SPRING Newsies JR, which will open auditions later in the fall, rehearse starting in January, and perform in May 2027, still keeping in the minimal JTF style of no costumes, sets, etc.
If you are unwilling or unable to travel to Atlanta, or are interested in doing the full Newsies JR (but still without costumes and sets), check back on our website later in the summer for information on auditioning for a non-traveling version of Newsies Jr that will perform at Riverside in the Spring!
IMPORTANT DATES AND INFO:
Open to ages 8 and up
Auditions MUST BE submitted online by July 3 NO LATER THAN 4pm at the form linked below
To audition, sing 32 measures of a musical theatre song from an Alan Menken musical or a song from Newsies itself.
Registrations and tuition payment of $300 due by August 14, 2026.
Tuition Discount Applications due by July 24 at 5pm HERE (unless you’ve been approved since June 2026).
Rehearsals will be on Fridays from 4:30pm to 6:30pm starting August 21.
More rehearsals added in January leading up to the Festival: Tuesday January 5 from 4:30 to 6:30, Thursday January 7 from 4:30 to 6:30, and Tuesday January 12 from 4:30 to 6:30, with a special dress rehearsal of the entire piece at 6:30 that night for friends and family!
January 14-18, 2027: travel to Atlanta, GA for the Junior Theatre Festival where the cast will perform their 15 minute version of the show! Hotel for students and chaperones will be booked by Riverside Theatre.
January 30, 2027: Special Post-JTF Showcase Performance Saturday January 30, 2027 at 11am on the Stark Stage at Riverside Theatre
Participants in this show are expected to participate in Atlanta. There will be a separate but minimal JTF fee for students to attend (usually only $100, which is separate from the tuition listed above)
Students 10 and under going to JTF must have a parent travel to Atlanta with them
CATS: YOUNG ACTORS EDITION AUDITIONS
Riverside Theatre’s Performance Academy presents CATS: Young Actors Edition
CATS: Young Actors Edition is a one-hour adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical, specially tailored for young actors. CATS is one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, winning the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical and garnering seven 1983 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Set in a larger-than-life junkyard playground, CATS introduces a colorful cast of Jellicle Cats, from the mischievous Rum Tum Tugger and magical Mr. Mistoffelees to the mysterious Macavity, the lively Jennyanydots, the railway cat Skimbleshanks, and the glamorous Grizabella. During the annual Jellicle Ball, each cat takes a turn sharing their story as Old Deuteronomy, the wise leader of the tribe, decides who will rise to the Heaviside Layer and begin a new Jellicle life.
Riverside's version, taking place in-the-round in the Waxlax Stage, will be a unique immersive presentation of the show, bringing the audience into the junkyard along with the cats and kittens! This will be unlike any version you have seen before, with a modern take on the costumes and looks very unlike any production before!
IMPORTANT DATES AND INFO:
Open to ages 8 and up
Auditions submitted online by July 3 NO LATER THAN 4pm at the links specified below:
To audition, sing 32 measures of a musical theatre song from (or in the style of) an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, or a song from CATS itself
Admission by online audition through the form linked below
After casting is announced, registrations and tuition payment will be due by August 11th
Tuition Discount Applications due by July 25 at 5pm HERE (unless you’ve been approved since June 2026).
Rehearsal Dates and Times
Weekly Rehearsals: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30pm to 6:00pm starting Tuesday August 18
Dress/Tech Rehearsals: Dec 14, 15, & 16, from 4pm to 8:30pm, and Dec 17 from 4pm to 6pm before opening at 7pm that night (the entire cast are called for these rehearsals)
Show Dates and Show Times (Call/arrival times are 1 hour before shows)
Performances on the WAXLAX STAGE at Riverside Theatre:
Thursday December 17 at 7pm
Friday December 18 at 7pm
Saturday December 19 at 11am AND
Saturday December 19 at 2pm AND
Saturday December 19 at 7pm
CLICK HERE to learn more about our Tuition Assistance Program.
Riverside Theatre seeks to transform lives by creating theater experiences for young people and families through our professional theater productions and our performance opportunities for young artists. Our productions listed below serve as opportunities for students to continue to learn and further develop their craft as young actors. Auditions are open to all (based on the specific criteria listed), and our plays are presented by the students under the guidance and direction of our award-winning educators and staff here at Riverside Theatre. All events are sure to delight and educate audiences of all ages. There is no cost to audition.
Education Policies are not open to interpretation or discussion, have been developed with the latest guidelines, and are meant to keep faculty, staff, and students safe. LEARN MORE
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