Teen Boot Camp (TBC) is designed to be a rigorous theatre learning experience. It will be very challenging, quick paced, and demanding. One might describe it as a theatre class on steroids! If your teen has been aching to be a better actor, this intense program is the solution!
Every four years, we do a full production in 3 weeks! We have done Pippin (2017) and Urinetown (2021).
In 2025, we are doing Little Shop of Horrors with a live band!
TBC 2025: Details
These dates are set in stone. Participants may have no conflicts with TBC… it’s that intense!! If you have conflicts, you will be dropped without a refund.
Let’s talk about TBC! TBC is designed to be an experience, not a tick in your resume. We are looking for actors that want to learn, grow, and be a part of the TBC experience. We are not looking for people only seeking the leading role and dropping if you did not get the part (you know who you are!). So you will audition. Then we will select the 20 actors and you will be offered a place in TBC without knowing your role. Once you have paid your non-refundable registration, you will go to the first cast meeting and receive your role.
Scholarships were offered by applying to be on our Boot Camp Staffs. This opportunity was due November 22, 2024. No more scholarships are available.
- Registration: This year will be different. You will audition first. Once accepted into TBC, you will register. Registration is limited to 10 girls and 10 boys. There are NO REFUNDS on registration. You will register without knowing where you are cast.
- Auditions: April 18, 4-8p, (must be in 10th, 11th, 12th, or graduating senior in 2024-2025). Come ready to sing, dance and act! Plan on being there the whole time. More info will be posted here on how to sign up to audition on March 1, 2025.
- First Meeting/Scripts: April 25, 4-7p. This is when we will announce the cast, give out scripts, and get you all the info you need to be successful in TBC!
- Class/Rehearsals: July 21-August 1 (M-F, 8a-5p, No TBC July 24), August 2 (8a-5p), August 4-7 (5-11p).
- Performances: August 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, and 16 (7:30pm)
- Cost: $350, NO REFUNDS for any reason.
- Includes: T-shirt, dog tag, cinch sack, head shots, 3 weeks of classes/rehearsals, costumes, 6 performances, and 1 amazing experience!
Characters:
These character descriptions are from the script. I love the fun the writer had even in the stage directions!
SEYMOUR: Our insecure, naive, put-upon, florist’s clerk hero. Above all, he’s a sweet and well-meaning little man. He is not a silly, prat- falling nerd, and therefore should not be played as the hero of a Jerry Lewis film.
AUDREY: The bleached-blond, Billie-Dawn-like, secret love of his life. If you took Judy Holiday, Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe, and Goldie Hawn, removed their education and feelings of self-worth, dressed them in spiked heels and a low-cut black dress, and then shook them up in a test tube to extract what’s sweetest and most vulnerable-that’d be Audrey.
MR. MUSHNIK: Their boss. A failure of an East Side florist. His accent, if he has one, is more that of middle class New York than of Eastern Europe. He seldom smiles but often sweats.
ORIN: A tall, dark, handsome dentist with a black leather jacket and sadistic tendencies. He is not, however, a leftover from the movie version of Grease. Think instead of an egotistical pretty-boy-all got up like a greaser but thinking like an insurance salesman and talking like a radio announcer.
THE PLANT (AUDREY TWO): An anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado. It has a huge, nasty-looking pod which gains a shark-like aspect when open and snapping at food. The creature is played by a series of four increasing large puppets, manipulated by one Puppeteer. The first time we see The Plant, it is less than one foot tall. The last time we see it, it fills the entire stage.
VOICE OF THE PLANT: Provided by an actor on an offstage microphone. It is important that this actor have clear visual access to the puppets onstage, so that he can provide accurate lip-synch. The sound is a cross between Otis Redding, Barry White, and Wolfman Jack. Think of The Voice as that of a street-smart, funky, conniving villain-Rhythm and Blues’ answer to Richard the Third.
CRYSTAL, RONNETTE, and CHIFFON: -Three female street urchins who function as participants in the action and a Greek Chorus outside it. They’re young, hip, smart, and the only people in the whole cast who really know what’s going on. In their “Greek Chorus” capacity, they occasionally sing to the audience directly. And when they do, it’s often with a “secret-smile” that says: “we know something you don’t know.”
OTHER CHARACTERS: A Voice not unlike God’s, Wino #1, Wino #2, Customer, Radio Announcer, Mr. Bernstein, Mrs. Luce, Skip Snip, Patrick Martin, Derelicts, Dentist Victim, and basic back up dancers and singers in various, surprising places.
From our TBC Teens
I learned to see myself in a positive light; both as a performer and a person.
TBC is a place where you can seriously grow if you are brave enough to leave your comfort zone.
There is an atmosphere in TBC I have not felt to this level anywhere else. You know after a day that you are accepted, your are loved, and you are respected.
TBC is not easy but every year it is worth it. We gain experience and learn a ton!
TBC is a place where I go to make new friends and feel a part of a family. I grow so much every year from TBC!
TBC has a power to bring people together. Toni always says to get to know each other through our work and she is right. It’s one of the best ways to get together and become friends.
TBC helped me find an inner power I never knew about.
TBC has changed my life. Being a part of it has helped me find and love who I am. And helped me understand who I want to be. I love it!
TBC taught me to have fun, be respectful, and to act/sing/dance your heart out!
To me, TBC means breaking down barriers and creating strength!
TBC is what I look forward to most all year!
Applause from TBC Audiences
TBC 2017: Pippin
I am in shock… I had no idea what I was coming to see and I was blown away by all the talent… and in just three weeks!
This was the best thing I have seen since Les Miserables at Kensington Theatre!
I am speechless. That was one of the best things I have EVER seen! Thank you!
Past TBCs:
TBC, 2014: It’s personal!
TBC, 2015: It’s about us!
TBC, 2016: Be Versatile!
TBC, 2017: Pippin!
TBC, 2018: Give the Gift!
TBC, 2019: It’s Personal!
TBC, 2021: Urinetown
TBC, 2022: Give the Gift!
TBC, 2023: Be Versatile!