Youth Programs

In a time of deepening arts cutbacks in the schools, opportunities at South Bend Civic Theatre for youth in drama continue to grow.

South Bend Civic Theatre offers acting classes in the spring and fall for various age groups. The classes are open to beginning, intermediate, as well as advanced theatre applicants and are held over a six-week period on consecutive Saturday mornings. Concentrated one-week acting camps and musical theatre camps are offered each summer in late July and early August.

Since our youth program was introduced in 1996, more than 3,000 area youngsters, ages 5 to 17, have participated in SBCT classes, camps or productions. In 2006, 115 youth landed acting, singing, and/or dancing roles in SBCT productions including “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” staged at Century Center’s Bendix Theatre.

With the addition in 2007 of SBCT’s Director of Theatre for Young Audiences, Youth Programming will continue to expand, to include; a resident touring company, increased outreach to area schools, and increased financial assistance for students and schools that may not otherwise be able to participate in SBCT’s youth theatre offerings.

Tuition varies by age group. Limited tuition assistance for all classes and camps is available, as needed, on a case-by-case basis.