Andrew Barth Feldman, Taylor Iman Jones and More to Appear at 2024 Junior Theater Festival West

iTheatrics and the Junior Theater Group have revealed the full lineup of performers, adjudicators, playwrights, songwriters and educators who will take part in the 2024 Junior Theater Festival West. The festival will take place February 9-11, 2024, in Sacramento, California.

 Timothy Allen McDonald, Junior Theater Group’s Founder and CEO, shared “There’s something very gratifying in knowing that at the very moment when lots of football fans will be cheering for the Big Game, JTF West will have nearly 2,000 people cheering for young people’s achievements in the arts.”

 The 2024 JTF West will feature groups from 5 countries – the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and South Korea. The United States is represented by groups from 14 states and Washington, D.C. Almost 2,000 students, parents, directors and supporters will travel to Sacramento to participate in the festival. Sponsors are Disney Theatrical Productions, Playbill, Inc.®, RPM, and founding sponsor Music Theatre International (MTI); MTI has supported JTF since the very first festival in 2003.

For the past 20 years, thousands of musical theatre students and their teachers have made the pilgrimage to this annual epic event for young people and educators creating musical theater worldwide.

 At the festival, each group will perform 15 minutes of a Broadway Junior® musical for adjudicators. In addition to mainstage performances featuring powerhouse Broadway guests, the groups will enjoy “Direct From Broadway,” a New Works Showcase of performance selections from upcoming Broadway Junior® musicals presented by JTF groups, “There's A Place For Us,” hosted by Jiana Odland, and “Growing Up Broadway,” hosted by SJ Arnegger and Timothy Allen McDonald.

 Headlining the concert held on Sunday February 11 will be Andrew Barth Feldman (No Hard Feelings, Dear Evan Hansen).

This year’s performers, presenters and adjudicators will include playwright and author Vichet Chum (Bald Sisters, Kween), Adam Faison (“Everything’s Gonna Be Okay,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), composer Zina Goldrich (Dear Edwina), Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels, Six), DJ Kurs (Artistic Director, Deaf West), directorCoy Middlebrook (Deaf West’s At Home at the Zoo), the writing team of Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson (Between the Lines, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure), Frankie A. Rodriguez (“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”), Joe Serafini (“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”) and actor and composer Jacob Ryan Smith (Painless: The Opioid Musical).

This year’s educators of note include Michael J. Bobbitt (Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council), Derek Bowley (Speech and Drama teacher at Congressional School), Daniel Chavez (Artistic Director, California Arts Academy), Romney Clements (teacher at University Preparatory School), Marissa Davis (Head of Voice and Middle School Team Lead, Professional Performing Arts School), Adam Fane (Jim Hensen’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas), Celeste Javier (JTF West Education Associate), Mary Kennett (tech educator and makeup artist), Eve La Puma (Drama teacher at Quarry Lane School), Kelly Lomonte (RENT, Sophisticated Ladies – DC), Dean McFlicker (former SVP and Creative Director, NBC – The Sound of Music Live, Peter Pan Live), Nina Meehan (Founder/Artistic Director, Bay Area Children’s Theatre), Lisa Morrow (Producer/Designer, BPAA), Cindy Ripley (Senior Advisor, Education at iTheatrics), Shay Rodgers (Manager, Education for Theatre Under The Stars), Morgan Rose (dance captain, School of Rock) and Eli Weinberg (Performer, Teaching Artist).

Additional special guests include SJ Arnegger (Head of Partnerships & Community Engagement, AKA), Tony Award-nominated director and choreographer Jeff Calhoun (Newsies), Max Gonzalez (Barrington Stage’s Cabaret), Cori Jaskier (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), McKenna Michael (Frozen – LIVE at the Hyperion Theater) and Sawyer Smith (The Devil Wears Prada – pre-Broadway).

Drew Cohen, MTI’s President and CEO remarked, “It is always a thrill to see such a wide variety of Broadway Junior shows presented by groups from all over the country and around the world in Sacramento. The energy at the Festival is what brings people back year after year and is precisely why MTI pioneered this collection of Junior musicals over two decades ago.”