RITZ STAGE STARZ

Ritz Stage Starz is the highly acclaimed Youth Theatre Initiative of The Ritz Theatre Company, with programming offered all year round! Our 2024-2025 season begins with a bang this November with THE ADDAMS FAMILY: YOUNG@PART! See below for more!

THE ADDAMS FAMILY: YOUNG@PART

November 15 – November 16, 2024

GRADES 3-8

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED! WE HAVE REACHED CAPACITY!

Book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice Music and Lyrics by ANDREW LIPPA

Based on Characters Created by Charles Addams

Directed by Kacy Hofstetter

Celebrate the wackiness in every family with our best-selling Broadway musical adapted for elementary and middle school-age performers! Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family whom her parents have never met. She confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

PETER/WENDY

 January 23 & January 25, 2025

GRADES 8-12

DOWNLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM HERE!

A Play by Jeremy Bloom

Adapted from J.M. Barrie’s PETER AND WENDY

With Segments from J.M. Barrie’s THE LITTLE WHITE BIRD

Directed by Robert Repici

In this lyrical, atmospheric interpretation of PETER PAN, Jeremy Bloom strips the familiar story down to its emotional essence. Peter lures Wendy away from her nursery to the magical world of Neverland, where she joins his adventures with Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, and the menacing Captain Hook. A low-tech, inventive adaptation that pays homage to the darker themes of J. M. Barrie’s original, PETER/WENDY will mesmerize audiences of all ages.

INTO THE WOODS JR.

April 11 – April 12, 2025

GRADES 3-8

Book by James Lapine

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Kacy Hofstetter

Be careful what you wish for, as Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s cockeyed fairytale comes to life in this adaptation of their groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical. INTO THE WOODS JR. features all of your favorite characters – Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (and his beanstalk), and the Witch – in this lyrically rich retelling of classic Brothers Grimm fables. The musical centers on a baker and his wife, who wish to have a child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King’s festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk. When the baker and his wife learn that they cannot have a child because of a witch’s curse, the two set off on a journey to break the curse, and wind up changed forever.

ANIMAL FARM

June 19 & June 21, 2025

GRADES 8-12

Adapted by Ian Wooldridge

From the Book by George Orwell

Directed by AJ Klein

George Orwell’s satire on the perils of Stalinism has proved magnificently long-lived as a parable about totalitarianism anywhere and has given the world at least one immortal phrase: “Some are more equal than others.” The animals on a farm drive out their master and take over and run the farm for themselves. The experiment is successful, except that someone has to take the deposed farmer’s place. Leadership devolves upon the pigs, which are cleverer than the rest of the animals. Unfortunately, their character is not equal to their intelligence. This dramatization remains faithful to the book’s plot and intent and retains both its affection for the animals and the incisiveness of its message.

DISNEY’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND JR.

August 8 – August 9, 2025

GRADES 3-8

Music and Lyrics by Danny Elfman, Sammy Fain & Bob Hilliard, Oliver Wallace & Cy Coben, Michael Abbott & Sarah Weeks, and Mack David, Al Hoffman & Jerry Livingston

Music Adapted and Arranged and Additional Music and Lyrics by Bryan Louiselle

Additional Arrangements & Orchestrations by Patrick Sulken

Book and Additional Lyrics by David Simpatico

Based on the 1951 Disney film ALICE IN WONDERLAND and the novels THE ADVENTURES OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll

Directed by Will Reid

When young Alice finds herself in a strange world where everything seems upside down, she must find her way home… and find herself along the way. As she travels through Wonderland, she encounters all of the iconic characters that audiences have come to love: including the ever-tardy White Rabbit, the grinning Cheshire Cat, a cool Caterpillar, the wacky Mad Hatter, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts. ALICE IN WONDERLAND JR. features Disney favorites such as “The Golden Afternoon,” “The Unbirthday Song,” and “Painting the Roses Red,” along with brand-new songs, including music from the 2010 live-action film. Whether this is your first experience with Alice or your hundredth, you’ll fall in love all over again with this timeless story of adventure, imagination, and pure fun!

SWEENEY TODD: SCHOOL EDITION

August 15 – August 16, 2025

GRADES 9-12 

Book by Hugh Wheeler

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Robert Repici

SWEENEY TODD has become a bloody, worldwide success since being awarded eight Tony Awards (including Best Musical) for its Broadway premiere and has now been adapted for high school performers in SWEENEY TODD: SCHOOL EDITION. Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s tasty, thrilling, theatrical treat has simultaneously shocked, awed, and delighted audiences across the world. An infamous tale, Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, returns to nineteenth-century London, seeking vengeance against those who wronged him. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which he opens a new barber practice. Mrs. Lovett’s luck sharply shifts when Todd’s thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up… and the carnage has only just begun!