Youth Conference

What is the TNT Youth Conference?

The TNT Youth Conference is a four to six-day event, generally at the beginning to middle of June, celebrating young people’s involvement in the performing arts. The location changes, based on the availability of a local theatre host or city sponsored location. Individual students and adults, members of Youth Companies with their adult directors and chaperones – all are welcome to attend. Attendance numbers in the past few years have ranged from 275 to over 500. The official kickoff is on Wednesday morning with performances scheduled throughout the days on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday and Saturday mornings, students rotate among a series of workshops designed specifically for them. In the afternoons and evenings, there are more performances. On Saturday night, a Saturday Showcase will put winning Monologue, Design, Musical Theatre Ensemble competition winners in the spotlight. On Sunday morning, there is an Awards event, recognizing all of the performing companies and announcing the All Star Cast and other awards. Registration for the Youth Conference is open to anyone (you do not have to be a company member to register) and includes all workshops, social events, performances and the Sunday Awards Event.

Workshops: Young people from all across Texas who are interested in the performing arts – particularly theatre – come together to attend workshops ranging from Improvisation to Hip Hop, Stage Makeup to Audition Techniques. The students are broken up into similar age groups, then rotate among 4 workshops, each of which lasts about 1 1/2 hours. Workshop are taught by professional theatre artists.

Performances: Companies apply to perform at the Youth Conference, bringing their own show to be performed for the other conferees and the general public, with tickets available for purchase online and at the box office before each show. Each of the shows receives feedback from a qualified Adjudicator, adding to the educational value of the showcases. Previous productions have included Into the Woods, Disney’s The Lion King, The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. . . it runs the gamut from published plays and musicals to original works authored by the company members.

Youth Conference Information

The 2024 Theatre Network of Texas, Inc. Youth Conference was made possible through the generous contributions of the following sponsors: