For more than 25 years, Next Actors: Summer Theatre for Teens has emboldened high school students in Milwaukee and surrounding areas to recognize their value and connect artistically to their community.
Join with professional theatre artists and other Milwaukee teens to develop your theatrical skills and devise a performance piece to share with family, friends and the community.
Next Actors: Summer Theatre for Teens consists two, two-week sessions. Join us for either or both of them, and your participation in at least one qualifies you to join our tour week and combined finale presentation! Additionally, before our first session, we offer an Optional Playwrighting and Technical Theatre Intensive.
Additionally, every day of Sessions One and Two will end with a variety of guest artists hosting workshops for Next Actors. Choose from a variety of workshops taught by professionals on fight choreography, musical theatre, ensemble building, props design, lighting design and more!
2025 Schedule
Optional Playwriting and Technical Theatre Intensive: A deep dive into playwriting and technical theatre after school in the two weeks leading up to the camp. A great opportunity to get practice and meet some of your fellow campers before full sessions begin, or a good option for those too busy during the rest of the summer. Snacks and bus passes provided. June 2nd – June 13th; Mondays – Fridays, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Session One: Meet daily with your fellow Next Actors to collaborate and combine your skills to create a few small performance pieces, while learning a variety of unique theatre skills from local professionals. This will culminate in a public performance at Next Act Theatre on Saturday, June 28th. Lunch, snacks and bus passes provided. Session One runs June 16th – June 27th; Mondays – Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.; with a presentation on Saturday, June 28th.
Session Two: Meet daily with your fellow Next Actors to collaborate and combine your skills to expand on last session’s pieces or create new ones, all while learning a variety of unique theatre skills from local professionals. This will culminate in a public performance at Next Act Theatre on Saturday, July 19th. Lunch, snacks and bus passes provided. Session Two runs July 7th – July 18th; Mondays – Fridays, 9:00 a.m. -3:30 p.m.; with a presentation on Saturday, July 19th.
Tour Week: Combine any and all of our previous work into a touring show to take around to the community! Anyone who participated in Session One or Session Two is welcome to join us for any amount of time on tour. Snacks, lunch, and bus passes provided. Tour week will be July 21st – July 24th; Monday – Friday, approximately 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Combined Finale Presentation: Any student who participated in Session One or Session Two is invited to be part of our Combined Finale Presentation, where we will adapt our touring show into a final piece and perform it publicly at Next Act’s professional 152-seat theatre. Snacks, food and bus passes provided. The Finale will be at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, July 25th, with required tech rehearsals taking place throughout the week.
For more information about this program, check our FAQ or email pia@nextact.org.