Young Performers 

Production of Trolls Jr.

Ages 5-12

Tuesdays 4:30pm-6:30pm September – April 

Get ready to sing loud, dance big, and join a musical adventure bursting with friendship, and fun!

This is the perfect production for our debut actors and actresses! Our young performers will get the chance to take center stage in a production process fit for them!

Casting & Rehearsals:

• Rehearsals Start: Tuesday, September 15th, from 4:30-6:30 PM
• Location: Greeley RidgeView (6268 W. 10th street unit B)
• Schedule: Every Tuesday until our performance on April 18th

What to Expect:

• Everyone planning to participate should register for Young Performers – Trolls!
• During the first rehearsal, students will learn a song and dance to perform for auditions and get a walk-through of the audition process to help set them up for success.
• Everyone gets a part! There are many parts available, including lead roles and ensemble, both of which are crucial for creating an amazing production. We work hard to get all cast members on stage as much as possible.

What to Wear:

• Athletic attire to casting and rehearsals
• Students can either go barefoot or wear dance/athletic shoes (no street shoes allowed on the floor).

Performances:

• Performance Date: Sunday, April 18th in the Monfort Theater at the Union Colony Civic Center
• Typical Performance Day: Morning dress rehearsal, matinee, and evening performance
• This incredible venue and highly qualified tech staff give students the opportunity for a professional performance experience!

Cost:

• Participation Fee: $95/month (September-April) via our autopay system. This covers all rehearsals, vocal instruction, choreography, scripts, and the main details of the student’s costume.
• Performance Fee: One-time fee of $65. This covers a cast T-shirt, downloadable photos of our production, and a link to the performance videos. Both videos and photos will be done by APV company.
• Additional Expenses: Basic elements of the student’s costume and tickets to the show, which will aid in covering production costs such as royalty fees, props, technicians, venue, etc.

 The party starts here! 

How To Train Your Dragon Jr.

Fall Musical

Saturdays September – January

Junior Cast Ages 8-12 –  9:00-11:00

Teen Cast Ages 12 and Up  – 11:15-1:15 

Answer the call of adventure in this action-packed musical!

Casting

• For this production, we have two casts separated by age:
  • Junior Cast: 9:00-11:00 (Ages 8-12)
  • Teen Cast: 11:15-1:15 (Ages 12-19)
• Everyone planning to attend the casting day should register for How To Train Your Dragon “Junior Cast” or “Teen Cast”.
• All students registered in advance will receive an email with audition materials on September 1st, including an audition form, a short dance routine, and a vocal audition.
• Auditions: September 12th at our Greeley RidgeView location (6268 W. 10th street unit B).
• Rehearsals will continue every Saturday until our performance in January.

Everyone gets a part! There are many parts available, including lead roles and ensemble, both of which are crucial for creating an amazing production. We work hard to get all cast members on stage as much as possible.

Rehearsals

• Rehearsals begin Saturday, September 12th.
  • Junior Cast: Saturdays from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM
  • Teen Cast: Saturdays from 11:15 AM-1:15 PM
• All rehearsals will be held at A Dance Place’s RidgeView Greeley location (6268 W. 10th street unit B).
• Students can wear athletic attire to casting and rehearsals. Students can either go barefoot or wear dance/athletic shoes (no street shoes allowed on the floor).

Performances

• Junior Cast Performance: Saturday, January 30th
• Teen Cast Performance: Sunday, January 31st
• Location: Monfort Theater at the Union Colony Civic Center.
• This incredible venue and highly qualified tech staff give students the opportunity for a professional performance experience.
• Our typical performance days include a morning dress rehearsal, a matinee performance, and an evening performance. 

Cost

• Participation in our production of How To Train Your Dragon Jr. is $500, payable via our autopay system. The cost covers all rehearsals, vocal instruction, choreography, scripts, and the main details of the student’s costume. You can choose to pay upfront or are welcome to divide into a 5 month payment plan.
• There will also be a one-time performance fee of $65, which covers a cast T-shirt, downloadable pictures of our production, and a link to the videos of our performance. Both videos and photos will be done by APV company.
• Additional expenses include basic elements of the student’s costume and tickets to the show, which will aid in covering production costs such as royalty fees, props, technicians, venue, etc.

Become part of the legend! 

Chicago: Teen Edition

Audition Only 

Auditions:

• Date: August 8th
• To be cast in the show, you must register for the “Chicago: Teen Edition” class.
• Registered students will receive an Audition Packet and a sign-up for a 5-minute audition time slot.
• Preparation: Students need to prepare 16-32 bars of a musical theater song of their choice, to be performed with an accompanist (students must provide their own sheet music). Additionally, students should prepare a 1-minute monologue.
• Location: Greeley RidgeView 6268 W. 10th street unit B

Callbacks:

• Date: August 9th
• Time: Between 12:00pm-4:00pm

Based on the roles students are being considered for, they will be assigned a specific callback time.

Not all students who audition will be cast. We highly recommend signing up for our audition workshop!

Rehearsals:

• Start Date: August 15th from 11:00-3:00
• Schedule: Most rehearsals will be on Saturdays from 1:30pm–3:30pm
• August 15th, 22nd and 29th will be extended rehearsals.
• Some rehearsals will take place on Fridays or extended on Saturdays. We will do our best to schedule rehearsals around the availability listed on audition forms. This will be a fast-paced rehearsal process, and students will be expected to work on material outside of rehearsal and come prepared each week. A full rehearsal calendar will be sent out with the cast list.
• Location: A Dance Place’s Greeley RidgeView 6268 W. 10th street unit B

Performances:

• Dates: Saturday, November 21st and Sunday, November 22nd
• Location: Hensel Phelps Theater at the Union Colony Civic Center
• Performance Schedule:
  • November 21st: Dress rehearsal and evening performance
  • November 22nd: Brush-up rehearsal, matinee, and evening performance

This incredible venue and highly qualified tech staff give students the opportunity for a professional performance experience.

Cost:

• Participation Fee: $525, payable via our autopay system. This covers all rehearsals, vocal instruction, choreography, scripts, and the main details of the student’s costume. You can choose to pay upfront or over 5 months.
• Performance Fee: One-time fee of $65. This covers a cast T-shirt, downloadable pictures of our production, and a link to the performance videos.
• Additional Expenses: Basic elements of the student’s costume and tickets to the show, which will aid in covering production costs such as royalty fees, props, technicians, venue, etc.

Get ready to Give ’em the old Razzle Dazzle! 

Musical Theater Audition Workshop and Headshots!

Join us for a special audition workshop led by Shelly Gaza, faculty member at the University of Northern Colorado and director at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Shelly brings both professional and collegiate-level insight to the audition process, making this a valuable experience for students preparing for school, community, professional or college theater auditions.

Details:

• Date: Saturday, August 1st
• Time: 11:00-1:00
• Location: A Dance Place (955 52nd Ave. Ct.)
• Cost: $75 for the entire workshop includes headshots!
•  

Headshots: Saturday, August 8th

Students will also have the opportunity to have professional headshots taken, providing them with a polished and marketable image for auditions.

Date: Saturday, August 8th
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Downtown Greeley

We’ll be meeting in Downtown Greeley for professional headshots with APV Company. Additional details about attire and styling will be sent to those who are registered.

Shelly Gaza – 2026 Bio

Director, Actor, and Theatre Educator

Shelly Gaza is a Professor of Theatre in the School of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), specializing in Voice & Speech for the Actor, Stage Dialects, and Acting Styles. She holds an MFA in Acting from Wayne State University, a BFA in Acting from Millikin University, and a Certificate in Acting from the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia.

In 2023, Professor Gaza completed a tenure as School Director of Theatre & Dance at UNC and has a ten-year history with UNC’s Little Theatre of the Rockies (LTR) as an actor and director, and previously served as LTR’s Producing Artistic Director from 2019 – 2022, and as its Executive Director from 2022 – 2023.  

As a director, Shelly has received honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for Compleat Female Stage Beauty at the University of Minnesota Moorhead, and Intimate Apparel and Legacy of Light at the University of Northern Colorado. Professional directing credits include the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Julius Caesar), Candlelight Dinner Theatre (The Secret Garden, Anastasia, and Steel Magnolias), Phamaly Theatre Company (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Little Women), Backstage Theatre Company in Breckenridge, Colorado (She Loves Me), Little Theatre of the Rockies (Xanadu and The Wolves), and the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare in the Schools multi-state tour. Shelly is also a Speech &

Dialect Coach and has worked in this capacity for The Candlelight, Arvada Center Theatre Company, and Little Theatre of the Rockies. 

As an actor, Shelly is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has worked with theatre companies across the country including the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Colorado and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, and The Hilberry Repertory Theatre and The JET in Detroit, Michigan.

In addition to UNC, Shelly has taught theatre at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Wayne State University, and the Actor Training Program at the Utah Shakespeare Festival/Southern Utah University. She is also a volunteer with the Weld Community Foundation and serves as the 1st Vice President of the Greeley Creative District. When not on campus or in the theatre, Shelly can be found most days hanging out in Greeley, Colorado with her husband of 29 years, their 2 teenage kiddos, and a flock of backyard chickens.