Great Summer Theater Programs for High School Students

Ithaca College’s residential Summer College program offers this rigorous three-week session of Acting I for rising high school juniors and seniors. Students explore the fundamentals of acting concepts and techniques through a combination of traditional lectures, reading and discussion, and exercises, improvisations and presentations. The course also offers an overview of various improvisation and audition techniques as well as several traditional acting techniques. Participants earn three college credits upon completion of the course. Learn more.

BIMA is a month-long summer arts program offered by Brandeis University for rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. The program emphasizes Jewish life and working in the Jewish art community. Students choose to major in one specific branch of the arts, which include dance, music, visual arts, writing and theater. Participants in all majors receive one-on-one instruction with professionals in the discipline and collaborate with other students on small group projects or performances. Students stay in residence halls on the Brandeis University campus. Learn more.

An extension of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts Professional Actor Training Program, the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory is an intensive program for high school students to immerse themselves in the theatre arts. Students take daily classes in acting, movement, speech, theater history, theater appreciation and stage craft as well as participating in master classes with professionals in the field and special seminars and activities. The program also includes visits to Broadway shows and other cultural institutions around the New York City area. Students live on campus in Rutgers University housing for the duration of the four-week program. Learn more.

The Tisch School of the Arts at New York University offers summer high school sessions in drama and dramatic writing for rising high school juniors and seniors. The summer drama program includes 28 hours per week of conservatory training in one of four more specified training programs and a seminar on the profession of acting. Students attending the summer program in dramatic writing take courses in the basics of screenwriting and playwriting to establish a foundation in the world of dramatic writing, and each student develops and presents their own script. Both programs run for four weeks and carry six college credits. Participants stay in NYU on-campus housing. Learn more.

This conference for high school students sponsored by the LeadAmerica organization explores several aspects of dramatic theatre, including writing, backstage work, performance and production. The program includes academic classes in subjects such as script writing, directing, acting and theatre management as well as presentations by guest speakers working in the theatre industry, field trips to places such as the New York Theatre District and personal development workshops where participants build career skills. The residential program runs for one week at Fordham University and carries two college credits. Learn more.