The main difference between First Act and Junior Stage is competitiveness. While everyone who signs up for a First Act production is guaranteed a spot, actors must audition for Junior Stage and not every auditioner is offered a part.

Junior Stage does occasionally offer limited roles to actors below the age of 12, depending on the show, but since these roles are limited, enrollment in First Act is a safer bet to ensure that your child has somewhere to participate!

First Act participants are welcome to audition for a Junior Stage show, and if they are cast in the Junior Stage show, they can certainly do both. Rehearsals and tech weeks do not conflict.

We accept participants of all reading levels into the First Act Program, however, children who are not yet fluent readers may be cast in smaller or non-speaking roles.

First Act is enrollment-based, which means that every child gets a part, so there are no auditions and no risks for getting “cut”. However, children do participate in a group audition on the first day so that roles & characters can be assigned fairly.

It is important to understand that East End is not a school program and that actors are not cast based on an actor's seniority with us in the way that a school might. Casting decisions are made based on the pool of auditioners that come out each time and who the team feels is the best person for each role. Small-group auditions will be held during the first rehearsal and roles will be assigned before the second rehearsal. Role decisions are final and will not be adjusted by the production team based on individual preference

We are able to take 55 participants per production.

In order to include as many participants as possible, our director will often create non-speaking roles, which are not in the original script. This means that not every child will have lines in every show. That being said, every child will, at minimum, sing and perform in larger ensemble numbers. It is important to understand that not every child will have equal stage time and that this is the nature of theatre. We will work to get kids on stage as much as possible, but this is ultimately dependent on their roles & the demands of the script.

Visit the First Act Registration page on our website.

Yes, First Act was designed as a first opportunity for beginners looking to dip their toes into the world of musical theatre and gain experience in a high-quality production.

First Act is a perfect fit for beginners, but we have many seasoned young actors in First Act as well, who tend to score more of the lead roles based on their training & skills. First Act is a great fit for a young actor with experience or not!

Rehearsals are on Wednesday nights from 5:15-8:30pm for about a 3 month span. Visit the First Act Registration page for logistics for a specific production.

All rehearsals are closed to family and parents. We find that children focus best when their parents & guardians leave them with us in the way that they do for school.

Absolutely. We are happy to be flexible with any and all conflicts for rehearsals, as long as we know about them and can build the schedule around them in advance.

That being said, if you know that your child will miss a significant number of rehearsals, we would recommend waiting for a session when your child can be at all of the rehearsals. With rehearsals only happening once per week, every minute of rehearsal time is key for teaching content and rehearsing the show. Participants who miss multiple rehearsals will be far behind their peers, and there may not be time in the rehearsal process to catch them up.

First Act productions are musical theatre productions. If your child is looking for a straight play opportunity, our summer and April vacation camps are a great option!

The chances that you child could come off the wait list is high! We are typically able to successfully enroll between 5-10 wait list kids once we get closer to the start date of the program.

We typically run two First Act productions per year, so you can expect the next one to start up about 3 more months after the previous show ended. Join our mailing list to be the first to hear about program sign-ups.

Join our subscriber list on our website, follow us on social media, or check the back of the program books at our shows! Enrollment fills very quickly, so definitely keep your eyes peeled!