Missoula Children’s Theater – Next Step Prep, the Academy for Musical Theatre for High School Students—the time is drawing near to open the doors to the inaugural class in Missoula, Montana.

Attendees are trained in Acting, Singing, Dancing and other performance areas, eight hours a day, five days a week from June 22 to August 7 http://www.mctinc.org/nextstepprep . These students receive two full-year fine arts credits to be transferred on to their local High School transcripts. Certified teachers in each area will maintain their own syllabi and coordinate the classes augmented by guest artists—recognized professionals from the worlds of Theatre, Film, Music, Dance and even Television.

Martin Charnin (author of Annie, the musical), J.K. Simmons (Juno, Spiderman Trilogy, ABC’s The Closer), Bill Bowers (Under a Montana Moon, Scarlet Pimpernel and The Lion King on Broadway), Alexander Gemignani (Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd on Broadway) and Alan Campbell (Sunset Boulevard Tony Award winner) among others are secured as seminar leaders for the inaugural summer.

We have also forged relationships with highly respected fine arts universities and conservatories. University professors Erin Ortmann (Performer and Director/Instructor at NYU-Tisch) and Aubrey Berg (Chairman, Department of Musical Theatre, Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music), will work closely with Next Step attendees, developing relationships and getting to know each as a serious musical theatre student.

The Financial Aid process is underway. We have contracted with an organization called School and Student Services to help assess financial need for our applicants. We are providing substantial scholarship opportunities for our students. So far, the financial aid packages average at about half of the tuition expenses.

Boarding students have the option to live in the dormitories or with local participating families for the length of the summer session. Homestay opportunities will be limited and based on availability. With this option, students have a similar communal experience to that offered in the dorms and ease the financial burden for his/her family. The host family must have at least one student enrolled in Next Step Prep. Each host family will be carefully screened. There will be no co-ed homestays without approval from both sets of guardians. For each out-of-town student for which the host family provides room, board and transportation to and from the Next Step Prep facility, that family will be given a credit toward their student’s tuition.

We are deep into the application and enrollment process with a limited number of scholarships to offer. We encourage you to discuss this opportunity with your parents/guardians. If musical theatre is an area of study that you are serious about, if you would like to study musical theatre at a competitive college institution one day or if you are just looking for an opportunity to learn from and train with some of the best, then log onto http://www.mctinc.org/nextstepprep, download the application and submit it as soon as possible. For the summer session, we are inviting any student who has completed their freshman year (or 9th grade) of High School. If you or your family has any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.

Next Step Prep is also on Facebook! Become a fan to receive updates and information regarding the 2009 Summer Session. If you are interested in the full-year boarding program beginning in the fall of 2010, please go to http://www.mctinc.org/nextstepprep download the Next Step Prep PDF Brochure or contact us for informational materials.

Libby Schneider

Curriculum Director, Next Step Prep

Executive Assistant to the CEO, Missoula Children’s Theatre

200 North Adams St

Missoula, MT 59802

406-728-1911 ext. 251