National Theatre For Student Artists Begins The Search For This Year's National Teen Company

The National Theatre for Student Artists (NTSA) is getting ready to welcome their fifth national teen company to New York City.

NTSA brings together high school and college students from across the country to stage new plays and musicals off-Broadway. NTSA provides opportunities for aspiring actors, directors, designers, stage managers, and producers. Taught by a staff of accomplished theatre professionals, students receive one-on-one coaching throughout the summer, helping them prepare for their BFA program auditions and beyond.

Applications are being accepted until March 4, 2018. NTSA seeks to assemble a national company with students from all income levels; students who require financial aid are strongly encouraged to apply.

"NTSA was the first theatre company to trust me and my ideas as a director," says NTSA alumnus Benjamin Viertel, now the Artistic Director of Third Space Theater. "NTSA gave me time and space, the two most valuable resources you can have as a young artist in New York City. NTSA never said 'no' to me and to what was possible." NTSA alumni include winners of the National High School Musical Theatre (Jimmy) Awards and the US Presidential Scholars for the Arts.

"NTSA students frequently work together for years after their programs end," adds NTSA Executive Director Victoria Chatfield. "They're building theatre companies together, staging new productions together, hiring one another for professional projects . . . NTSA doesn't just provide you with a rigorous training experience; it also helps you build a network of friends that could change your life."

This year, for the first time, NTSA will be rehearsing all of its productions at Daemen College in Western New York. Productions will be staged at the Theatre at St. Peter's in Midtown East. Session 1 runs from June 15 - July 7, 2018; Session 2 runs from July 8-29, 2018.

For additional information and to apply:

Visit www.nationalstudenttheatre.org or contact Victoria Chatfield at vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org.

About the National Theatre for Student Artists:

Since 2012, NTSA has been bringing new works by young artists to off-Broadway stages. In the words of Dramatics Magazine: "[NTSA] is a selective company created by and for passionate young artists who see the theatre as a professional home, not a hobby. The scripts developed offer the chosen actors a chance to portray age-appropriate characters created by playwrights from their own generation. As a result, the productions at NTSA are theatre at its best."

Photo: Parade Stone, Marla Louissaint, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Adam Stern-Rand in Jimmy! (2014) at the Irondale Center. Photo by Emma Young.