OK this is a total plug for this competition, but my daughter attended twice and other MT kids would get so much out of it.
https://www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/Great-American-Songbook-Inititative/Annual-Competition
To apply, you send in two songs from the Great American Songbook- pretty much all pre-1965 MT songs can be used. They pick 40 kids from around the country. Almost all of the 40 kids that are selected are musical theatre geeks. So, they all really get along and are supportive of each other, even though it is a competition. During the week, they have wonderful workshops with great instructors and there are always a few Broadway actors. My daughter's first year, Laura Osnes came to give them a workshop. This year, it was Jarod Spector and also Janis Siegel from The Manhattan Transfer. My daughter got to do an improve call and response duet scat with her- cool!
The older kids that my daughter has met there are now all in college MT programs so she knows people at PACE, CMU, Rider, Montclair, UM, Texas, Marymount...etc. And, the winner of the Songbook Academy from three years ago, Maddie Ballio, was the girl selected to be Tracey in Hairspray Live. Go Maddie!!
To top it all off, Michael Feinstein who started the program works with the kids and he is the absolute best. He is a consummate performer and they learn so much from him. When he was performing in our area last year, the Songbook Academy contacted my daughter to ask if she would like to perform a song in one of his shows. She did and it was the thrill of her life (so far) and it looks great on her college resume...just saying. Michael tries to have the songbook kids perform with him as much as he can. How awesome is that? Plus, the kids learn all about the songs from the Great American Songbook and how to interpret and perform them. This is the purpose of the whole thing; to keep these songs going with the younger generation. My daughter was a top 10 finalist this summer. She got to perform her two songs in the beautiful concert hall in Carmel in front of a sold out audience. Being a finalist, she can't go again, but she wishes that she could go for a third time. THIS PROGRAM IS FANTASTIC!
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