JumpStart Theatre

La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to partner with the Educational Theatre Association’s (EdTA) JumpStart Theatre program. The program equips non-theatre middle school teachers with the skills and resources to produce their school’s first musical through a proven combination of hands-on mentoring and boot-camp style training. EdTA, in collaboration with NYC-based companies iTheatrics and Music Theatre International (MTI), created JumpStart Theatre, a three-year program which builds sustainable musical theatre programs where none previously existed, and aims to:

• Engage as many students as possible in all aspects of theatre, preparing them for high school, college, and the workforce by instilling 21st-century skills of collaboration, communication, problem solving, and creativity;
• Provide a practical and effective path to implementation in underserved middle schools nationwide.

How it works

Schools are rigorously screened on multiple criteria, most notably, passion and commitment. Participant schools receive the materials, funding, expert training, and experienced teaching artist mentor support to produce one full-scale musical production each year on a three-year path to sustainable capability.

JumpStart Theatre Schools

Current Schools
John Muir Language Academy
Longfellow K-8
Madison High School

JumpStart Graduates
Challenger Middle School
De Portola Middle School
Innovation Middle School
Knox Middle School
Los Coches Creek Middle School
Marston Middle School
Montgomery Middle School

Timeline

Spring 2025: Applications posted for 2025/26 school year
August/September 2025: interview period for schools who have applied
September 2025: Selected schools notified and orientation
Fall 2025: Program begins at selected sites

Training & Ongoing Mentoring

Three teachers from each participating school are taught the techniques and skills to develop and manage a musical theatre program (everything from casting, to rehearsal schedules, to staging/choreography and technical requirements, to cultivating parent/community engagement, to achieving economic sustainability) through a series of three, full-day professional development “bootcamps” each year of the three-year program, plus an ongoing mentoring/coaching relationship with an experienced theatre teaching artist.

To learn more email [email protected].

The Educational Theatre Association is an international association with approximately 125,000 active members whose mission is shaping lives through theatre education. EdTA is home of the International Thespian Society, which has inducted more than 2.3 million students since its founding in 1929.The Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) is the fundraising arm of EdTA, providing financial support to enhance theatre education and expand access to school theatre programs for every child.

JumpStart Theatre is made possible, in part, through the generous support of:

Peggy and Robert Matthews Foundation
Betty Scalice Foundation/Coastal Community Foundation
Sutherland Foundation