Are you an aspiring singer, dancer, actor, or performer? If you want the experience of a Los Angeles or New York City actor and want to travel, then this is the trip for you. 

A competition group composed of talented Portsmouth High School students will travel overnight to the NH Educational Theatre Guild Festival and Competition in Wolfeboro, NH. The 2024 dates have not yet been solidified. 

Auditions will be held in the winter of 2023 for PHS performers. This is an amazing opportunity for singers, dancers, actors, and aspiring performers. Be on the lookout for an information session that will be announced in the coming school year.

PHS drama director, Katie Reis, will assign solos, duets, and dance pieces for selected performers. The entire PHS group will also be competing with group ensemble pieces chosen from musicals. The roles will be casted accordingly. 

“We are so fortunate at PHS to be able to take our theater students to share art with other high schoolers and learn and grow as performers. I cannot wait for what 2024 has in store for us!” says Reis. 

Auditions will consist of a 32 bar cut of a musical theater song of your choice and a one minute monologue of your choice. Students can email [email protected] with any questions (song choices, monologues, headshots, or resumes).

Outside of the competition, students will have time to sightsee, eat, shop, and bond with their peers on the trip. PHS Student and participant of PHS theater, Shea O’Keefe says opportunities like this are “an important opportunity for the underclassmen because it promotes team building and working as a community.”

In past years, the PHS group has attended a similar competition called the Musical Theater Competitions of America (MTCA) in Los Angeles, California. In the past three years, PHS has been the only public school to attend. It is composed mainly of professional theater companies and schools for the arts all over the country. 

Students in the past, who attended MTCA, had the privilege of watching Broadway professionals perform and working with the actors. In past years PHS has seen Taylor Louderman, the original Regina George on Broadway, Christy Altomore, the original Anastasia on Broadway and many more prominent figures through the competition. Masterclasses were available from professional directors, choreographers, and actors. The judges of the competition were prominent figures in not only Broadway, but the entertainment industry as well.

In the past three years, PHS has had opportunities through this trip to travel to Disneyland, California, attending performances in the Disney Hyperion, and touring the backstage of the theater. The students have participated in masterclasses with Disney Performing Arts which involved recording their own soundtracks in a studio, learning how to voice act, and sing with their own voices as the Disney character. The students had free time to sightsee in California, go to the beach, explore the theme parks, and enjoy nightly swims in the hotel pool. 

Plan on attending the info session if you are even remotely interested in the trip or are considering signing up! Scholarships are available for students with financial need and fundraising opportunities will be provided. Portsmouth Music and Arts believes students should be able to attend no matter their financial circumstances.