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Northern Stage’s Youth Ensemble Studio (YES) offers a wide variety of theater opportunities for young actors in grades 6-12. Throughout the course of the academic year, YES company members develop their skills in acting, singing, dancing, voice & speech, character development, script analysis, problem solving and working as a team. This season our YES offerings include a Fall Musical and a Spring Showcase, plus 5 Main Stage Days, where company members spend the day at Northern Stage for master classes with cast members from our main stage productions, a company pizza party, group tickets to the show and a post-show talkback with the artists. The Youth Ensemble Studio is a valuable home for theater kids in the Upper Valley who are passionate about theater, want to bring their skills to the next level and share their talents with the community.

INTRODUCING...

YOUTH ENSEMBLE STUDIO MEMBERSHIP

Registration for 2025/26 YES programs will be open on Monday, June 2, 2025.

For our 2025/26 education season, we are bringing back our YES (Youth Ensemble Studio) membership!

We believe it is important to create a sense of community for our students. While we will still provide flexibility for the students and their schedules, we believe that by reinstating the YES membership it will help create a greater sense of ensemble. We also believe that by training as a group throughout the year the students will grow not only as individuals, but also as an ensemble. By working together in workshops and in rehearsals, we can create a safe and trustworthy environment to push the students to dive deeper into their art and conquer challenges together as an ensemble. We seek to provide not only world class training and experiences but a sense of community and home.

We have three different options for the YES membership! Please find registration options and individual program descriptions below. Click HERE to learn more about our Sliding Scale Tuition Program and additional scholarships.

YES Membership A
(6-10th Grade)

Main Stage Days
The Addams Family

Tuition: $800

YES Membership B
(6-12th Grade)

Main Stage Days
Spring Showcase

Tuition: $650

YES Membership C
(6-10th Grade)

Main Stage Days
Both Productions

Tuition: $1,100

YES Main Stage Days

Program: Youth Ensemble Studio (YES)

Our Main Stage Day Program is the perfect way for a busy student to get involved. Our Main Stage Days begin with masterclasses led by professional theater artists from around the country, followed by a company pizza party before seeing a Northern Stage production. Finally, after the performance, our students participate in a talkback with the cast to ask questions about the theater industry.

This year we will have 5 Main Stage Days:

Come from Away – Sunday, 10/5/25
Peter & Wendy – Sunday, 12/14/25
The World is Not Silent – Sunday, 2/15/26
The Children – Sunday, 3/29/26
Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret – Sunday, 5/17/26

The Addams Family: Young@Part Edition (6-10th Grade)

Program: Youth Ensemble Studio (YES)

Music & Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Based on the characters by Charles Addams

Young@Part Edition adapted by Marc Tumminelli
Directed by Sam Empey

Calling all 6th through 10th graders*! This Fall we will be putting on The Addams Family Musical: Young@Part Edition. This 60-minute version of this Tony-nominated musical comedy will give the students the opportunity to explore these larger than life characters. Over the course of 5 weeks, students will rehearse with one another to prepare and present this beloved story in Schleicher Rehearsal/Education Studio. Registration is open to all students in 6th through 10th grade.

*This production does not require an initial audition to participate. We will have Character auditions before the start of the program on Monday, August 25th.

Character Audition Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Program Dates: September 9 – October 12, 2025
Performance Dates: October 10 – 12, 2025

Calendar linked HERE

YES Spring Showcase (6-12th Grade)

Program: Youth Ensemble Studio (YES)
Directed by Kevin David ThomasSam Empey

The Youth Ensemble Studio Showcase is back for a fourth year! Come join us for an evening of musical theater songs and scenes chosen to provide each and every actor with an opportunity to shine. All students will have small group sessions with a project director and a vocal coach, and the company will work together on group numbers. The Spring Showcase is the best opportunity of the year to take a leap forward as a performer and introduces the YES company to our community.

Program Dates: March 17 – April 12, 2026
Performance Dates: April 10 & 12, 2026

Calendar linked HERE

Education
Sponsors

Youth Ensemble Studio is sponsored in part by Ramunto’s Hanover Brick n’ Brew.

YES FAQ

Click on the questions to learn more

We welcome students of all experience levels.

It is essential to have all actors together in the rehearsal room to create excellent theater. Conflicts are taken into consideration for casting, so all conflicts must be listed on each project’s audition form and may not be added after auditions. While we make every effort to accommodate conflicts, attendance at certain rehearsals and all tech/performance dates is required. Please contact Co-Directors of Education Sam Empey at sempey@northernstage.org and Kevin David Thomas at kthomas@northernstage.org if you have questions about whether your conflicts are compatible with participation in the program and would like to discuss.

A 25% deposit is required to reserve a space in all Northern Stage programs. Payments must be made in full by the program start date. In an effort to ensure theater education is accessible to all, Northern Stage offers sliding scale tuition, need-based scholarships, and payment plans for our education programs. Please click HERE to learn more. 

Northern Stage’s refund policies for Education programs:
– Cancellations 60+ days before the classes begin: 75% refund
– Cancellations 30-59 days before the classes begin: 50% refund
– Cancellations within 30 days: No refund

For additional information contact Co-Directors of Education Sam Empey at sempey@northernstage.org and Kevin David Thomas at kthomas@northernstage.org or the Box Office at boxoffice@northernstage.org.

We understand that some students are at different levels of maturity than their peers, but we design the YES program and its productions with specific grades in mind. With very few exceptions we urge you to sign up for the program/production that fits the student’s school year.

Nope! You can sign up for one or all of the offerings in a given year.

We no longer require Covid testing to participate in Northern Stage programs. Students experiencing coughing, sore throat, fever or gastrointestinal distress must contact program administrators to determine whether they can come to rehearsal/performance days.

If your child has a fever of 100 degrees or greater or if they have vomited two or more times in the past 24 hours, they may not return to Northern Stage. They are welcome back once they have been fever free for 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medication. For further questions you can contact Sam Empey at sempey@northernstage.org.

The Northern Stage Education department will typically cancel rehearsals and classes when a majority of surrounding school districts cancel school or have an early release due to inclement weather. We will reach out through email and/or phone to alert families to any cancellations. A make-up rehearsal or class will typically be scheduled to make up for any lost time, schedule permitting. 

Weather-related performance cancellations are very unusual but do sometimes occur. If we are experiencing inclement weather on the day of a student performance, Northern Stage will determine if a cancellation is necessary and alert students’ families to the situation as quickly as possible. 

For further questions you can contact Sam Empey at sempey@northernstage.org.

You will receive confirmation from the Northern Stage Box Office, and will be contacted by the Education department closer to the start of the program with a detailed schedule and an Online Student Intake Form. This form must be completed before the start of the program or the student will be unable to participate.

No audition is required for participation in Main Stage Days or any of the productions. However, auditions do take place when required to assign roles within the productions.

Communication
Theater is about collaboration and good communication is a pillar of this activity. When you sign up for this program, you are making a commitment to clear communication. Parents must check their email regularly and read all the information we send out. We encourage YES students to be actively engaged in email communication alongside their parents.

We are grateful to Janet Miller Haines and Heywood Alexander, Education Fund donors, and our entire family of supporters for making YES scholarships possible. If you would like to set up a payment plan or have questions about payment options, please email boxoffice@northernstage.org.