Summer Youth Theatre

Summer Youth Theatre (2026)

 Now in its 36th summer, Curtain Call’s Summer Youth Theatre has provided creative opportunities for young theatre artists on stage and behind the scenes. To participate, you must be at least entering 4th grade in the 2026/2027 school year and no older than age 21 (turning 22 after the production is over).

Experience the magic of theater this summer with Curtain Call Inc.’s Summer Youth Theatre program. This is not a workshop, but a full-fledged production opportunity for young talent. Our program is separate and independent from our Summer Stock Workshops, offering a unique chance for aspiring actors and crew members to shine on stage and behind the scenes.

• Participation by audition only for actors
• Crew signup available for backstage enthusiasts
• A simple participation fee of $50 required once you are cast or signed up for crew (discounts for siblings and scholarships for those who qualify).
• Professional-level production experience
• Opportunity to work with seasoned directors and designers

Curtain Call announces its 36th Summer Youth Theatre production

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

MUSIC BY MARC SHAIMAN

 MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MARC SHAIMAN AND SCOTT WITTMAN

BOOK BY DAVID GREIG

Based on the famous novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features an original score that also pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film with songs from the motion picture including "The Candy Man," "I've Got a Golden Ticket," "Oompa Loompa Song," and "Pure Imagination."

The world-famous Willy Wonka is opening the gates to his mysterious factory…but only to a lucky few. Young Charlie Bucket and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination including chocolate waterfalls, nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a golden ticket to a crowd-pleasing, outrageous ensemble musical with plenty of delicious roles.

AUDITIONS:

Saturday, May 16 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm

Monday, May 18 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Callbacks (if needed): Friday, May 22 from 3:30pm to 6:30pm

CREW SIGN-UP will be made available online soon. You may check back with us OR, you are welcome to come down to the auditions and sign up in-person and ask any questions.

REHEARSALS are generally held Monday to Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 9:30pm with some weekends (either a Saturday or Sunday) during the day, beginning the week of June 8, 2026. There is no rehearsal Fridays. Cast members MUST be available for ALL rehearsals July 20 thru opening, and ALL performances. No exceptions.

Not every cast member will be called for every rehearsal. Attendance will be based on who the directors need for each rehearsal and what work needs to be accomplished. Rehearsal scheduling is largely based around conflict information, so please list ANY AND ALL CONFLICTS YOU MAY HAVE on the back of your audition form.

Select Saturdays will be reserved for larger-scale  crew work days where the cast will be invited to help as well from 10:00 AM to 2:00 or 3:00 PM (occasionally as late as 4:00 PM).

CREW WORK DAYS will be held during the week, Monday to Friday between 10:00AM and 4:00PM under the direction and supervision of Curtain Call’s professional tech director. Those interested in learning skills in building, painting, rigging, and other assembling, etc. are welcome and encouraged to join us during the week.

Select Saturdays will be reserved for larger-scale work days where the cast will be invited to help as well from 10:00 AM to 2:00 or 3:00 PM (occasionally as late as 4:00 PM).

Running Crew members (or the crew that works behind the scenes during performances) must begin attending rehearsals the week of Final Run Thru’s July 27 to 30. Running Crew Members must attend all Tech and Dress Rehearsals, and Performances. No exceptions.

TECH WEEKEND:

Saturday, August 1:

Sitz Probe Rehearsal for the cast (which is a sing-thru rehearsal of the show with the pit musicians and conductor), typically 10:00am to 2:00pm.

Dry Tech (just crew, no actors), typically 10:00am to 5:00pm

Sunday, August 2: Tech Sunday - Crew called at 11:00am. Cast called at 1:00pm. Company dismissed no later than 11:00pm. Dinner provided by Curtain Call.

PERFORMANCES:

August 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15 at 7:30pm

August 9 at 2:00pm

*There is a special Sensory Friendly Performance for a group on August 13 at 7:30pm

(Crew is called two hours before showtime. Cast is called 90 minutes before showtime.)

TEAR-DOWN AND STRIKE: August 16 beginning at 10:30am.

 Sunday (August 2 this year) is an all-day rehearsal (10:00 AM to 11:00 PM) with dinner provided.

Overall, the program provides over 100 hours of creative enrichment for young actors and technicians.

Ready to take center stage? Call Curtain Call to learn more about our Summer Youth Theater program and how to get involved.

Safe Space Procedures

As part of our ongoing efforts at providing a safe, nurturing environment at Curtain Call, and to be in compliance with requirements of the Stamford Public Schools, we have moved to an online source (Spot Screening) to handle background checks for all Curtain Call participants age 18 and up. This applies to parent volunteers, performers, crew members, etc.

There have been no incidents at Curtain Call. We are just being conscious of issues around us in the world. (Stamford Public Schools will no longer allow us to provide programming without sexual misconduct/sexual molestation insurance coverage and we can’t get affordable coverage without doing background checks.)

Participants age 18 and up will be required to provide electronic consent for this background check. Consent will include authorizing Spot Screening to email a copy of the completed background check to Executive Director Lou Ursone. All information will be treated with strict confidentiality, in accordance with applicable privacy laws. The PDF reports that are issued to us for file purposes will have the Social Security number redacted.

There is no cost to you for this. You may go online to do this now, or wait until you receive a call back or offer (or offer to serve as an adult volunteer), but it must be completed within 24 hours of an offer or your offer will be rescinded.

When entering the information for your background check, please enter your name as it appears on your Social Security card. Doing your background check is easy.

If you have any questions, please email Lou@curtaincallinc.com.