Broadway actors to train Theatre Aspen students

Aspiring young actors in the Roaring Fork Valley will get the chance to work with Broadway cast members during Theatre Aspen’s Broadway Bootcamp.

From Aug. 5-9, high school students can sign up for Broadway Bootcamp, where Broadway actors who are performing in Theatre Aspen’s summer productions will give individualized coaching for acting, dancing, and more. The students will receive advice on auditions and resumes and will receive professional headshots.

“The idea of the program is since we have our mainstage casts of Broadway and other professional actors here over the summer, and we have performance apprentices who are folks studying theater at top programs or just graduated from them … we’ll bring that all together for a training program for our high schoolers where we can have intensive pre-professional programming for people who are interested in majoring in theater,” said Vanessa Strahan, director of education for Theater Aspen.

Actors from Theatre Aspen’s upcoming production of “Come From Away,” which runs Aug. 2-24, will give critiques on audition techniques, callback materials, cold reading, and sight singing exercises. Theatre Aspen performance apprentices will also provide workshops to students.

The apprentices have just gone through the audition process or are currently working through it, which will help give students an inside look to the process, Strahan said.

“Most of these kids, especially folks who live in the valley year-round, don’t have access to Broadway performers and don’t have access to these folks at top programs studying for their professional career,” she said. “To be able to be in the room working with them is a great opportunity.”

Students will be able to use their critiqued resumes and headshots taken during the bootcamp for future auditions, she added.

The bootcamp runs 1-4 p.m. between Aug. 5-9. Tuition is $285, and students can sign up at theatreaspen.org/summer-2024.