08/13/2026
Well that's a wrap on our FIFTH season at Broadway Kids in The County! It's so crazy to me that we're five years in and we only keep growing!
This year we had a slow start, but once we started, it was complete whirlwind! We didn't do our first show until our June camp, but we still managed to squeeze in four shows from June to August! It was exhausting but lots of fun!
This year we felt like a full fledged summer stock theatre and it was really awesome!
Let's recap a bit:
First up was our June camp which was NEWSIES JUNIOR! This brought us a first time director - Charlie Stevens - and it brought to us a new choreographer - Natasha Bishop - who fit in our company like she's always been here. Newsies is such a big dance show so it was the perfect show to get to showcase our stronger dancers. Even the kids with not a lot of dance experience kept up nicely. The show was a breakout show for several of our long-time regulars in the ensemble to play leading roles and it was so exciting to watch all the kids exceed our expectations!
Next up in July we were in a (new to us) venue in Thomas Park in New Sweden, which was so magical! I have wanted to do INTO THE WOODS for a long time – and I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect venue for this show if I tried! When we held auditions, I didn’t think Into the Woods would be the most popular show that we offered this summer for the kids and teens. When casting the full version, we had so MANY kids and teens that would have either been cut altogether from the show, or we would have had some mad talent just playing trees. So, that led to a spur of the moment to add in INTO THE WOODS JUNIOR so all these crazy talented kids and teens could have their own show and to have their individual chance to shine!
This was the first time we did the full version and junior version of the same show at the same time. It sounded crazy – especially with a Sondheim musical at that! The Junior version was actually the perfect introduction for especially the younger kids to do their first Sondheim musical - I was so glad all the massively challenging score was broken up in bite sized chunks for kids to learn easily. But more than that - I loved seeing the support between the two casts. Most of the adult cast came in the mornings to support and cheer on their younger counterparts. I loved seeing the kids and teens having this shared experience with the adults as they were both learning these roles at the same time. And I loved seeing the kids that weren’t in the full version to come see their older counterparts. It just felt like a really special way to bond with each other.
And oh man, Thomas Park. I stumbled upon a photo of that amphitheater by accident one night a couple of years ago and dreamed of doing theatre in the park there since then. And I couldn’t have picked a more perfect musical for our first summer there! It was so magical with the lights in the trees and the way the LED lights lit up the dome. I loved how the lines even matched up with being outside, like Little Red saying “we have to hurry, it’s getting dark”, as it was actually getting dark outside. And the way the moon appeared directly over the dome as the sun set. It just felt magical through and through. We are excited to go back there next summer!
And lastly was a chance for me to check off another musical I had on my directing bucket list since I saw it on Broadway back in 2006 with THE DROWSY CHAPERONE JUNIOR! I knew this show would be a hard sell to bring in new kids - or big audiences for that matter - but sometimes you just have to do those passion projects that you wanted to do forever and just trust the process. Although this show didn’t attract any new actors, it was a fun show to do with regulars who have been with us for at least one show and up to 13 previous shows! It’s been such a joy over these last five years to watch these kids grow into such incredible performers! These shows that are star vehicles for the cast and really give everyone a chance to shine are some of my favorite camp shows to do!
I am so amazed at how much this company has grown in just five years! And this wouldn’t be possible without YOU joining us and sticking with us! Theatre truly takes a village – and to be able to pull off four BIG shows in only three months does not happen without a big village willing to pitch in where ever needed! From bringing the kids to the rehearsals to painting sets to making props, building trees, to helping to transport these items and with load in and load out – it’s a lot of work and it’s not all a one person job. None of this would be possible if there weren't so many people with a shared passion that show up show after show and jump in where needed.
We had 42 different actors and crew / staff as a part of our summer season this year! From age 7 on up to adult - from first comers that did all our shows to new comers that just did one show to our regulars that were in all our shows and everything in between. In our five years, we have grown our village to well over 100 different people that have done shows with us – that’s not nothing!
On to Season Six with another full season and trying more NEW things with the shows we are offering! Stay tuned to this page in September when we start to drop the hints for our 2026-2027 season!
Thank you for being a part of our village!
Miss Darci
