Austin ISD celebrates 10 years of summer theater series

Austin ISD summer theater series

Austin ISD is keeping their theater students busy this year during their annual summer theater series program. In this week's Report Card, FOX 7 Austin's Jessica Rivera was able to stop by the performing arts center to see the students in action.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin ISD is keeping their theater students busy this year during their annual summer theater series program, the largest theater camp in Central Texas. 

What they're saying:

"This is our 10th year of the summer theater series. We are super excited to be celebrating 10 fantastic years of free summer programs," said program coordinator Christina Pozzi.

Throughout the years, the program has grown to include the Rising Stars Camp, a one-week instructional experience for students in grades 6 through 12 new to acting, singing, and dancing. 

Students have been able to perform a number of acts and each year features two performances: a one-act-style play in the PAC’s 200-seat Black Box theater and a large-scale musical in the 1,200-seat proscenium Main Hall theater.

"I've done this program for about eight years. I've been like the longest anyone has ever done. I've since I could because my older sibling did it like the year before I could. And I've really seen this program grow. I've seen everyone really enjoy and like flourish," said graduating student Audrey Nixon.

"Our hope is that they come away from this summer learning something that they can bring back to their home campuses to help enrich our home campuses," says Pozzi.

Celebrating 10 years

Local perspective:

For this major milestone, AISD is planning something big to commemorate it.

"We are going to have alumni from previous years of STS come back to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. So we're looking to invite previous directors, previous students to come and celebrate 10 years of the program," said Pozzi.

‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

What you can do:

This year, the district is excited to announce their upcoming productions: "The Wizard of Oz" in the Black Box, and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The New Musical" on the main stage.

"The Wizard of Oz" performances kick off tonight (June 26) and run through June 28. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" performances run from July 24 to July 26.

"I play Grandpa Joe in this production, and I've been honestly having a great time," said student Neil Amin.

"It's really great. I grew up watching the Johnny Depp [version of] ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. So, this is like the exact version. And it's really fun to see how music was kind of brought into it and how it kind of makes the whole thing come alive," said Nixon.

To buy tickets to the performances and to learn more about the program, click here.