Every summer for over 30 years, Raleigh Little Theatre holds a theatre intensive for ages 14-18 (rising 9th graders – recent high school graduates) in which high school age students participate in classes and apply their learning to a fully realized production.Teens on Stage classes may focus on movement, voice and speech, text analysis, devising and advanced acting. Teens Backstage participants are engaged in all areas of technical theatre including set construction, costume construction, prop building, lighting, sound and scenic painting. Teens Backstage also builds the set and many costumes under the supervision of the Technical Director and design team.
The Teens on Stage / Teens Backstage program is designed to further students’ theatrical training by connecting theatre classes to production work and to develop students as theatre artists by connecting theatre to the world and society. The program is a good fit for a variety of theatre experience levels and the RLT education team believes this variety makes the program even stronger. Our goal is that this intensive theatre-making experience serves students’ goals in theatre and the arts and also in developing their communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills that can be used in a variety of ways in their lives.
Admission to Teens on Stage is by audition only and Teens Backstage is by interview.
Our 2025 Teens on Stage/Teens Backstage production is Hadestown: Teen Edition!
About the Program
Together, TOS and TBS form RLT’s teen intensive on-campus summer program that provides theatrical training and mentoring to teens. The program team’s approach prioritizes the agency of the youth participants and is grounded in the belief that young people are valuable creative collaborators. This approach supports the development of youth theatre artists as it engages them in critical thinking, creative problem solving, and a community-centered environment that recognizes what each person brings to the collaboration.
RLT seeks participants for the Teens on Stage program. All who are cast in the production divide their time between daily classes and rehearsals. Class content is designed to support students’ artistic skill development in areas that apply directly to the production, while helping them grow into well rounded theatre artists.
RLT seeks 6-8 participants in the Teens Backstage program. Participants will gain experience in all areas of technical theatre (set construction, costuming, lighting, sound and prop making) through rotating master classes and mentorship from the design team in creating all technical elements of the production. Teens Backstage participants then move into a focus area as technical rehearsals begin and then serve as the run crew with a specific role for all performances
Program Dates for Teens on Stage and Teens Backstage
The first day of the program is Saturday, June 28. Performances run July 24 – August 10, with strike (deconstruction of the production elements, followed by a final group reflection) after the show on August 10. Teens on Stage and Teens Backstage meet Monday-Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm until opening night.
Sample daily program schedule:
9:00 – 9:20 am Check In/Announcements
9:20 – 10:55 am TOS Class #1 & TBS Build Time
10:55 – 11:10 am Break
11:10 – 12:45 pm TOS Class #2 & TBS Build Time
12:45 – 1:15 pm Lunch
1:15 – 2:50 pm TOS Rehearsal & TBS Classes/Build Time
2:50 – 3:05 pm Break
3:05 – 4:40 pm TOS Rehearsal & TBS Classes/Build Time
4:40 – 5:00 pm End of Day Reinforcement
Auditions for Teens on Stage (TOS) – Due to the forecast of impending inclement weather, auditions are rescheduled to the dates below.
General Auditions: March 1, 2025 (Saturday) from 5pm – 8pm and March 2, 2025 (Sunday) from 3pm-6pm
Callback List: posted on RLT website by March 4, 2025 (Tuesday) 12pm
Callbacks: March 10, 2025 (Monday) 7pm – 10pm
To sign up for an audition day, please click here
All auditionees should arrive ten minutes before the time they are signed up to help with check in. There are TWO general audition days. You need only attend ONE.
Auditionees will sign up for an hour audition slot in groups up to 10. The audition will consist of both singing and a short, simple dance combination.
Please prepare 16-32 bars of a song in the style of the show. Be sure to bring sheet music in the correct key. An accompanist will be provided.
Auditionees will be taught simple choreography. Please wear comfortable clothing and appropriate shoes to move in.
Please fill out the following paperwork to bring with you to the auditions:
In addition to the paperwork, please email cari@nullraleighlittletheatre.org with a recent picture of yourself by 4pm Monday, February 18. The purpose of the picture is to help the director remember your amazing performance during auditions, so an informal picture is ideal, as long as it shows who you are and is recent.
A callback list will be posted by 12pm on February 21, 2025.
Questions about auditions? Contact Michele@nullraleighlittletheatre.org
If you need any specific accommodations to audition, please contact Executive Producer, Michele Weathers (michele@nullraleighlittletheatre.org) to make your request. Examples of accommodations made in the past are: wheelchair accessible audition space, large print materials, prompters in the audition room, volunteers to help fill out forms, and auditions by appointment.
Interviews for Teens Backstage (TBS)
Saturday, March 8th from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
To sign up for an interview, please click here
Teens Backstage interviews will consist of learning about your interest and experience in technical theatre. Students will interview in a group setting that will also include activities along with touring RLT’s space. Students are required to attend the entire interview session.
Please fill out the following paperwork to bring with you to the interview:
Tuition
The tuition cost for the program is $1000. Once you have been accepted into the program, RLT will provide information about registration and scholarships. Raleigh Little Theatre has never turned away a student due to inability to pay.
Virtual Info Session
Want to learn more about this year’s program and get your questions answered? RLT’s Director of Education, Terra Hodge, and the show’s director, will host a virtual informational session on Monday, February 10, 2025 from 7:00 pm – 8:00pm.. The session will include a program overview, Q&A, and guidance on how to prepare for your audition or interview. Parents/Guardians are also welcome to attend with their students.
About the Show
Hadestown: Teen Edition is a full-length adaptation of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, modified for performance by teen actors for family audiences. This intriguing and beautiful folk opera delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Following two intertwining love stories – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone – Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell’s beguiling sung-through musical pits industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love.
HADESTOWN: TEEN EDITION is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Corp.
www.concordtheatricals.com
About the Characters
Orpheus: (Tenor with strong falsetto, D3-C5) Lyre-playing poet, gifted and naive
Eurydice: (Mezzo-Soprano/Alto, F#3 – D5) A runaway, tough and vulnerable
Hades: (Bass, F2-C#4) Compulsive industrialist, boss-king of Hadestown
Persephone: (Mezzo-Soprano/Alto, F3-C5) Queen of nature and the season, a lush
Hermes: (Tenor/Bariton, C3-B4) Charismatic guide and storyteller, mentor to Orpheus
Fates (3): (Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, E3-D5, fate 1 up to E♭5) Three Sisters, vicious and delicious, voices in the head
Workers: (Soprano: F#3 – E5, Alto: E♭3-D5, Tenor: G2-A♭4, Bass:E♭2 – A♭4) Spirits of labor and community, a physical choral presence
Recent Teens on Stage / Teens Backstage productions include:
- Our Town (Multilingual) (2024)
- Puffs (2023)
- Xanadu (2022)
- As You Like It (2021)
- She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms (2020)
- Antigone (2019)
- Into the Woods (2018)
- Public Works’ The Tempest (2017)
- Bat Boy: the musical (2016)
- Runaways (2015)
- Fiddler on the Roof (2014)
- Animal Farm (2013)
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon (2012)
2024 TOS/TBS production of “Our Town (Multilingual). Photo by Emanuel Lirag
Any questions about the program can be directed to Education@nullRaleighLittleTheatre.org.