Youth Theater Educational Opportunities Abound in the Flathead

The Flathead Valley has an abundance of opportunities for kids and teens to experience the fun and excitement of theater. Acting and performing is a creative pursuit that can build confidence and teach other valuable life skills which have benefits far beyond the stage.

While the different theater organizations in the valley share a passion for the basic concepts of musical and theatrical performance, each puts its own spin on youth education and acting opportunities. 

In the case of the Whitefish Theatre Company, kids can actually audition and be cast in the company’s stage productions depending on what kind of shows they are planning on any given year. Executive Director Kim Krueger has said there are also opportunities for teens to work backstage on productions, and that they have worked in the past to accommodate teens with special needs. 

Come summertime, WTC offers different summer camps that cater towards different age groups, and aspects of theater. Last summer, WTC hosted four different summer camps. Wonderfully Wacky Works Week offered campers a chance to explore the imaginative world of fairy tales and create their own scenes. Improv Comedy gave campers a chance to focus on the fundamentals of improv, while the Peter Pan & The Neverland Adventures camp gave participants a chance to craft their own Neverland adventure play from characters, to script to costumes. Page to Stage: Musical Storybook showed campers how literature can be brought to life with the help of music, dance and imagination, and the Broadway Kids Dance Class gave kids a chance to explore the art of Broadway by performing skits, dancing, and learning about the theatre district’s history. Information about the upcoming summer’s camps is usually posted on the Whitefish Theatre Company website after spring break. More information can be found at https://whitefishtheatreco.org/summer-theatre-camp.

At the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre, an average of four musical productions are put on each year.  For the 2024-2025 season, the theater has taken on or will take on performances of “The Little Mermaid,” “White Christmas,” “When in Rome,” “Newsies,” and the variety show “Cowabunga — SNL! … on The Farm!” Roles in stage productions are given based on auditions, and the theater also has two choirs for different age ranges. The theater is led by creative director Brach Thomson, and each summer it hosts multiple summer workshops, where attendees can hone their musical theater skills like dancing, singing, acting and improv. More information can be found at www.bigforksummerplayhouse.com/childrens-theatre/. 

Also offering a slate of educational and performance opportunities is the Whitefish-based Alpine Theatre Project. Known for bringing in Broadway performers for its shows throughout the year, ATP’s kids programming looks to pass along some of that knowledge to the next generation. In the spring, ATP offers what it calls its “ATP Kids Spring Session,” which is an after-school program open for kids in grades 8 through 12, which teaches theater basics through improv, movement, games and storytelling. Participants also rehearse for a production performed at the session’s end. This year’s spring session is open to kids in grades 7 through 12, and has a “We Will Rock You” theme. Though ATP does do auditions, it does not turn kids away. 

Come summertime, ATP hosts its “Broadway Summer Camp,” where Broadway artists help campers learn acting, singing and dancing in what ATP calls a three-week “intensive training session.”  ATP wraps up its youth programing with a fall session, typically open to students in grades 1 through 8. The after-school program focuses on the basics of theater, including improv storytelling movement and games. Like the spring session, it involves rehearsal for a production performed at the end of the session. For more information go to https://atpwhitefish.org/.