Alan Menken, Jasmine Amy Rogers & More to Appear at 2025 JUNIOR THEATER FESTIVAL ATLANTA

iTheatrics and the Junior Theater Group have revealed special programming and the lineup of performers, adjudicators, playwrights, songwriters and educators who will take part in the 2025 Junior Theater Festival Atlanta. The festival will take place January 17-19, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
“Our Junior Theater Festivals celebrate excellence achieved through collaboration, empathy, focus, and hard work. After more than 20 years of producing JTFs around the globe, it’s no surprise to see our alumni leading healthy, happy, and successful lives—often stepping into leadership roles both within the arts and beyond. This is why every young person, everywhere, must have access to the arts in their schools and communities. They are, quite literally, our future.” said Timothy Allen McDonald.
 
Called a “rousing celebration of theatre” by The New York Times, for the past 22 years, over 100,000 musical theatre students, their teachers, and families have made the annual pilgrimage to this epic event celebrating musical theatre.
 
JTF Atlanta 2025 is once again sold-out, with attendance topping 7,500 people from the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Poland, Czech Republic, and New Zealand. The weekend also features the first-ever International All-Stars a group made up of students representing the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, plus a student group from The Penguin Project, which empowers young people with special needs through the performing arts.
 
JTF 2025 will celebrate 20 years of Disney joining MTI’s Broadway Junior collection and a founding sponsor of JTF. Thomas Schumacher, Chief Creative Officer, of Disney Theatrical Group, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday January 18, and the weekend will feature special appearances from Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award-winner Alan Menken, with McKenzie Kurtz and Rodney Ingram, plus a World Premiere musical, Disney’s Dare to Dream JR., which will be performed as the Sunday Night Concert on January 19. Disney’s Dare to Dream JR., directed & choreographed by Emily Maltby, will feature 100 students from three different participating groups: Inspiration Stage, Richmond, TX; North Texas Performing Arts-Fairview Youth Theatre, Fairview, TX; and Plaza Academy, Cleburne, TX. Disney’s Dare to Dream JR. is currently available for licensing via Music Theatre International (MTI).
 
This year’s festival will also celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Freddie G Fellowship. Created in 2010 by Freddie Gershon, then CEO of Music Theatre International and 2012 recipient of the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre for having conceived and implemented the Junior Theatre Programs, the fellowship welcomes a select group of theatre instructors to be part of an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City each summer for the opportunity to work one-on-one with industry professionals in a weekend of seminars, master classes, and Broadway shows. In addition, each of the participating teachers receives $5,000 from Gershon and his wife, Myrna, to enhance their arts program. This year five teachers will be honored, bringing the total to 100 Freddie G Fellows and nearly half a million dollars given to educators for their programs over the last 15 years.
 
Freddie Gershon shared, “While I conceived the Broadway Junior program and the rights were secured and materials approved from the authors, the teachers of America were our true collaborators. Without these educators, there would be no Broadway Junior program and we are grateful for how they have embraced the future of musical theatre.”
 
At the festival, each group will perform 15 minutes of a Broadway Junior® musical for adjudicators. In addition to mainstage performances featuring powerhouse Broadway and West End guests, the groups will enjoy the New Works Showcase of 9 to 5 JR., She Persisted JR., Madagascar – A Musical Adventure KIDS, and Shrek KIDS, plus a weekend of workshops and panels.
 
“For over 20 years, attending the Junior Theater Festival has been a highlight for me and my colleagues at MTI. Seeing the performers display their talents is a genuine thrill and speaking with them, their directors, teachers, and parents allows us to hear what we can do to best serve their needs. The weekend energizes us for the entire year ahead!” said Drew Cohen, MTI’s President and CEO.
 
Mainstage appearances will include Sarah Jane Arnegger (AKA NYC), actor and teacher McKenna Michael Bisaha (HBO’s “Barry”), 2024 Jimmy Award–winner Damson Chola Jr., John Clay III (New York, New York), Frank DiLella (Host of NY1’s “On Stage”), Katy Geraghty (Into the Woods), actor Max Antonio Gonzalez (Cinderella), director Michael Herwitz (JOB), Cori Jaskier (Ratatouille the TikTok Musical), Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels, Six), Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mykal Kilgore (Songs for a New World), composer Daniel Mertzlufft (Ratatouille the TikTok Musical), Grant Reynolds (Mamma Mia), Jasmine Amy Rogers (BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical), composer Rob Rokicki (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical), actor and composer Jacob Ryan Smith (Relapse: A New Musical), and composer Deborah Wicks La Puma (She Persisted).
 
This year’s educators include Bernie Baldassaro (Performer, The Book of Mormon),  Michael J. Bobbitt (Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council), Paul Brewster McGinley (former Director of Teaching & Learning at Roundabout), Khalia Davis (Producing Artistic Director, The Coterie Theatre), Niani Feelings (Choreographer and Performer), Nichole Forde (Performer), Beau Harmon (Performer and Choreographer), Fernell Hogan (Performer, Kimberly Akimbo), Tom Jackson Greaves (Choreographer), Dr. Jennifer Katona (Executive Director, Educational Theatre Association), Bob Lenzi (Performer, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Kelly Lomonte (Performer), Kelby McIntyre Martinez (Associate Dean for Arts Education and Community Engagement, University of Utah College of Fine Arts), Nina Meehan (Founder/Artistic Director, Bay Area Children’s Theatre), Ernie Nolan (Artistic Director, Unicorn Theatre), Cindy Ripley (Senior Advisor, Education at iTheatrics), Shay Rodgers (Choreographer, iTheatrics), Lotte Wakeham (Artistic Director, Octagon Theatre Bolton), Court Watson (Theatrical Designer), and Cameron Williams (Artistic Coordinator, Alabama Shakespeare Festival).
 
Additional educators include Kikau Alvaro, Julianna Babb, Sam Bolar, Jacob Brent, Marissa Davis, Tessa Derfner, Scott Goodell, Gordon Greenberg, Jacob Harvey, Robert Hindsman, Mary Kennett, Rebecca Marlowe, Rosemary Newcott, Kameron Porter, Nick Pramik, Morgan Rose, Darian Sanders, Theresa Squire, Holly Stanfield, Alexandra Van Paris, David Weinstein, and Josh Zacher.