Teen Theater Program
Performance Experience for High School Students
Ross Ragland Theater’s Teen Theater Program gives high school students the chance to audition and perform in a full production with real stage experience and a stipend for participation. This program combines rehearsal, teamwork, and performance in a supportive environment with no heavy time commitment until the final weeks leading up to the show.
Current Production: Charlotte’s Web
This exciting, new musical version of Charlotte’s Web brings a new dimension to E.B. White’s beloved classic. With music and lyrics by Charles Strouse (Annie, ‘Bye, ‘Bye Birdie) and book by Joseph Robinette (national award-winning children’s playwright) your audiences will thrill to a musical score which includes “Eating,” Wilbur the pig’s humorous yet poignant song about growing up; “Who Says We Can’t Be Friends,” an enchanting duet between Wilbur and his new-found companion Charlotte; “Welcome to the Zuckerman Barn,” featuring all the story’s unforgettable animals in a hand-clapping, toe-tapping hoe-down; and “Summer,” a haunting, nostalgic chorus number which evokes a time and place from everyone’s childhood. This joyous musical offers your audiences a very special experience.
Rehearsals and Participation
Rehearsals are held on Mondays from 4pm to 7pm until two weeks before showtime, allowing students to build skills and confidence while balancing school and other commitments. Participants gain experience with performance technique, collaboration, and stagecraft under the guidance of experienced theater educators.
About the Team
The Teen Theater Program is led by director Heidi Neill, an experienced theater professional who brings years of directing and production expertise to the program, supported by assistant directors and stage manager Alex Burris.
Heidi Neill
Director
Heidi Neill has been involved in the theater since 1992, when she was 12 years old. She continued to act throughout high school, but took a short break to be an adult and left Klamath for a few years. In 2010, when she returned to Klamath, she started volunteering at The Linkville Playhouse right away. In 2012, she directed her first show: an adaptation of Odd and the Frost Giant for Little Linkville’s plays for children; a program she was a founding member of and continues to be a part of to this day. She started working as a part of Ross Ragland’s Tech crew in 2015. Later that year, she assistant directed You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown on the Ross Ragland Stage. In 2017, she directed Harvey at the Linkville Playhouse, her first full-length play. In 2020, she was asked to direct The Teen Theatre Program. That year, she somehow pulled off directing 20ish teenagers in a thrilling production of Puffs during a Pandemic! Squirrel Girl Goes to College is her third Teen Theater production at the Ross Ragland. Hanging out with her husband Mark at their favorite haunts around the Basin like The Garage Taphouse, Nite Owl, or Everybody’s Vintage, or traveling Oregon and hiking.
Alex Burris
Stage Manager/Assistant Director
Aria Sha developed her passion for theater at the age of 7 when she participated in her first play at the Linkville Playhouse. She hopes to inspire that same spark for the stage in others by teaching this year’s after-school improv class. Other than theater, she enjoys being active and creative.
