YouthREACH
Music Theater Works Rehearsal Center, 516 4th Street, Wilmette, IL 60091
About
YouthREACH is a growing program for young people that covers musical theater, acting, singing, dancing, and theater technology. YouthREACH Kids Company rehearses shows that include acting, singing, and dancing, and offers masterclasses in audition technique. YouthREACH Teen Company includes masterclasses in audition technique and visits from established stage artists, and teens perform on the same set as a Music Theater Works mainstage show with support from the professional design team.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: YouthREACH Kids Company summer workshops run for six days of rehearsals with a final Saturday performance, with sessions offered December 29, 2025 – January 2, 2026, and multiple one-week sessions between June 15 and July 25, 2026; YouthREACH Teen Company runs Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 16, with weekday rehearsals, Saturday rehearsals, tech rehearsals, and a final performance.
• Price: YouthREACH Kids Company workshops cost $430 per student per workshop, refundable except for a $25 processing fee if written cancellation is received two weeks before the registered week; YouthREACH Teen Company costs $1325 per student with a $50 audition fee that is applied to the balance if the teen is cast, and limited need-based scholarships are available.
Music Theater Works, which runs YouthREACH, is a resident professional not-for-profit music theater founded in 1980. Its mission is to present works for the musical stage from classic pieces to new works, to develop the next generation of theater professionals and patrons, and to engage the community in music, theater, and the arts. The organization states that creative collaborations with arts and community partners are a vital part of its approach, and that it is committed to inclusion and diversity in show selection, casting, creative teams, and community engagement. YouthREACH Kids Company uses a tag-team approach to casting so every child gets a starring part as well as ensemble work, and every child in both Kids and Teen Companies gets a part. YouthREACH Kids Company is open to young performers ages 8 to 13 with no experience or audition required, as long as students are 8 years old by the first day of the workshop and have about a 3rd grade reading level, and space is limited to 35 students per workshop. The December 2025 YouthREACH Kids Company Winter Workshop features Disney’s Frozen JR., and the Summer 2026 Kids Company sessions feature High School Musical JR., The Sound of Music Youth, Into the Woods JR., Footloose Youth, and Mary Poppins JR. The program describes its atmosphere as welcoming and inclusive, and notes that cast members will build confidence, flexibility, empathy, and the ability to uplift the strengths in others. Music Theater Works states that its values include caring about what is put on stage, being additive to the cultural landscape, supporting artists over time, treating music as a vital part of theater, connecting art to the communities in which it exists, and supporting equity and diversity on and off stage.
Last updated January 11, 2026.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: YouthREACH Kids Company summer workshops run for six days of rehearsals with a final Saturday performance, with sessions offered December 29, 2025 – January 2, 2026, and multiple one-week sessions between June 15 and July 25, 2026; YouthREACH Teen Company runs Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 16, with weekday rehearsals, Saturday rehearsals, tech rehearsals, and a final performance.
• Price: YouthREACH Kids Company workshops cost $430 per student per workshop, refundable except for a $25 processing fee if written cancellation is received two weeks before the registered week; YouthREACH Teen Company costs $1325 per student with a $50 audition fee that is applied to the balance if the teen is cast, and limited need-based scholarships are available.
Music Theater Works, which runs YouthREACH, is a resident professional not-for-profit music theater founded in 1980. Its mission is to present works for the musical stage from classic pieces to new works, to develop the next generation of theater professionals and patrons, and to engage the community in music, theater, and the arts. The organization states that creative collaborations with arts and community partners are a vital part of its approach, and that it is committed to inclusion and diversity in show selection, casting, creative teams, and community engagement. YouthREACH Kids Company uses a tag-team approach to casting so every child gets a starring part as well as ensemble work, and every child in both Kids and Teen Companies gets a part. YouthREACH Kids Company is open to young performers ages 8 to 13 with no experience or audition required, as long as students are 8 years old by the first day of the workshop and have about a 3rd grade reading level, and space is limited to 35 students per workshop. The December 2025 YouthREACH Kids Company Winter Workshop features Disney’s Frozen JR., and the Summer 2026 Kids Company sessions feature High School Musical JR., The Sound of Music Youth, Into the Woods JR., Footloose Youth, and Mary Poppins JR. The program describes its atmosphere as welcoming and inclusive, and notes that cast members will build confidence, flexibility, empathy, and the ability to uplift the strengths in others. Music Theater Works states that its values include caring about what is put on stage, being additive to the cultural landscape, supporting artists over time, treating music as a vital part of theater, connecting art to the communities in which it exists, and supporting equity and diversity on and off stage.
Last updated January 11, 2026.
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