VA Thespian Update

FRIDAY JAN 9 - Come From Away Book, Music, and Lyrics by Irene Sankoff & David Hein, licensed by MTI, produced as an all area show in the Northern part of the state, produced by Northern VA Performing Arts as the school premiere for ANY secondary school program!

• "Discover life as a Gander islander with the story of the 38 planes that were diverted to Newfoundland on September 11, 2001." -MTI

SATURDAY JAN 10 - The Play That Goes Wrong written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, licensed by Concord Theatricals, produced by Langley High School/Saxton Stage.

• "After benefitting from a large and sudden inheritance, the inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society embark on producing an ambitious 1920s murder mystery... The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical murder mystery, a play within a play, conceived and performed by award-winning company Theatre Mischief."-Concord Theatricals

SUNDAY JAN 11- Annual awards program and Thespy showcase extravaganza!

• Stay tuned for more exciting news about headliners, other opportunities for this year, and more!

Thinking about attending VTF for the first time or starting your own Thespian Troupe but want more information? Schedule a meeting with our Executive Director, Addie Benko, executivedirector@vathespian.org to learn more!

- Regular Registration (9/15-11/14) - All forms finalized by 11/14!!

- Intern App (until 11/7 for all post-HS aged students to get work study/volunteer hours)

- Workshop Proposal (until 11/14 - teachers and other adults associated with schools can propose workshops too if they have topics they are passionate about, workshops are 75 min long and we suggest tailoring the content to 60 ish min with time for check in, questions, etc. on either end)

- College & Vendor Registrations (open for any you know who are interested until 11/14)

- Sponsorships/Donation form (open for any you know who are interested until 11/14)

- One Act App (9/15-11/3 - we inform decisions by 11/11)

- Middle School Festival (9/15-11/3 - we inform decisions by 11/11)

-Student Events (Scholarships & College Auditions) now until 11/10

- Student Events ( Thespys + Playwriting) now until 11/10

We know that most musicals have only a few leads, a few more supporting roles and a whole lot of chorus. That's great for a lot of reasons. But, what if ALL your students could be leads? What would they learn? They'd learn confidence from being a main storyteller, build character having to do hard things and of course, develop their triple threat skills. We can do that for you educators! All of the roles in each of our mini-musicals have EQUAL number of lines and solo singing parts. Add a variety of song genres and you've got the "lead experience". Thanks to Virginia Thespians' invitation, we'd LOVE for your students to experience this for themselves. License Training Musicals was started by three professionals. Pam, is a certified educator and producer. Katie is a lead in over 20 shows within her high school career, an American Idol finalist, our songwriter and a talent producer. Lastly, Jessica, our amazing script writer and lyricist with over 200 scripts developed. Virginia Thespians, partnering with us, will generously offer you many opportunities for your students to experience these musicals, so stay tuned!

Go ahead and edit, if you'd like. Just give us a peek before publishing. Thanks, you all!!!

You remember the beloved guest artist Jason Lemire who writes many high school and middle school-friendly one acts, taught workshops previously at VTF like Being Bad: On Acting and Writing Villains, Like A Turkey Thrown Out of an Airplane Into A Warzone: Metaphors in Storytelling, and helping students with audition anxiety before college auditions in 2024? He's back to help you prepare virtually! This is a GREAT offer for schools/students and tis the season to make this happen. Click on the link/read more below. Picture from 2024 when Jason made magic happen at VTF!

Here is a Google Slides PPT about Thespians to encourage students to join or share with School Admin about the benefits of having an International Thespians Honors Society troupe or coming to VTF.

Everything below is repeated for your convenience to reference as needed:

Nov 7 - Adult Award Nominations

Nov 10 - Student Event Registrations Due

Nov 11 - One-Acts Selected/Rights Required

Nov 14 - Regular Registration Closes Late Registration open/Exhibitor Apps. Due

Nov 17 - Middle School Performance App. Due/One Act Commitment Forms Due

Nov 24 - One Act Early Bird tickets released

Dec 1 - Late Registration Closes

Dec 3 - One Act Tickets released to all schools

Dec 12 - Student Events released to public

Dec 15/16 - Tentative College Aud. Training (to prep)

Dec 17 - Eventsential released

Dec 19 - Mainstage Tickets released

Jan 5 - Teacher Training (online)

Jan 9 - 2:15 pm - Teacher Training (in person) (TBD)

Jan 9 - 3:45-5 pm - Networking (in person) (TBD)

See our proposed 2026 Block Schedule to Map Out Your Weekend!

If you joined us in 2025 we want to hear from you!

Take our VTF 2025 Survey to give us your feedback if you attended the event this year so we can make 2026 even more spectacular!

We would also love to share out about your programs on our social media pages. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @vathespians so we can follow you back/keep track of your happenings. You may see your school or show featured soon. Use #vathespians for us to easily find your post! Enjoy media highlights from this year's VTF & check out our 2025 VTF Playbill!

Thank you to our 2025 Sponsors: Noble Blades, Impact Tours and Travel, YouthPLAYS, Shindig Digital Programs, We Help Two, Ludus, ACG, Booktix, Broadway Global Licensing, DeLong Rigging Solutions, J.W. Pepper and Son, Inc., NextStop Theatre Company, Scenery Bags, SL ShowTech, Theatrefolk, Charcoal Blue, & Traveling Players Ensemble!

BLAH BLAH

Consider Booktix or Ludus for your ticketing programs. Work through our referral links or mention VA Thespians and we earn a portion of the proceeds which helps us to offer more student opportunities in VA at the festival and beyond!

Virginia Thespians are excited to announce a continued partnership with BookTix Online Ticketing! Many of our schools already use BookTix for their ticketing & fundraising needs. By partnering with BookTix, VA Thespians receive a percentage of all sales which goes directly into creating programs for your students! When you use BookTix, you not only make ticketing simpler for your box office, families & patrons, you are also giving back to VA Thespians. BookTix has committed to helping us grow in many ways, including sponsorship, education opportunities & more! Please use our affiliate link to sign up for a demonstration of their robust system & see for yourself:

Support the Virginia Thespians and elevate your ticketing by clicking below!

CLICK HERE

As we head back to school, we encourage you to make sure your ticketing platform is performing well for you! If you are in need of a better way to do ticketing, check out our partner BookTix! BookTix has streamlined the process for online and in-person ticket sales. And, as a bonus, they give back to our organization when you use our Affiliate Link to sign up!

We're thrilled to continue our partnership with Virginia Thespians, helping your community shine with the best in ticketing, our new volunteer management, collections feature, and more! At Ludus, we're all about streamlining your theatre operations—from easy ticket sales to coordinating your amazing volunteers. Plus, stay tuned for even more exciting updates coming later this year to make your productions run smoother than ever! Learn more at https://hello.ludus.com!

Getting Members Signed Up: Ensure your members sign up using your referral code or partner landing page. This ensures they are automatically assigned to your partner dashboard. We've seen fantastic sign-ups in your area and want to ensure everyone is making the most of their referral codes. Your success is our success! If you would like a webinar, we can schedule one for all contacts or you can inquire yourself.

• Your Referral Code: Ludus.com/VT​
• Your Partner Landing Page: https://www.partners.ludus.com/partners/vt

Product Updates: We continue to add new features and improve existing ones based on your feedback. Recent updates include:

• Volunteer Management: Streamline your volunteer operations with our easy-to-use tool.
• Waitlists: Enable a "Join Waitlist" button on your Events and Classes.
• Direct Forms: Share direct links to forms for collecting information and data.
• Apps: Android and iOS apps are now available!
• Pay Options: Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Apple Wallet are all available. As well as "other" option available for Venmo, etc.
• Collections/Registration updates: Collect payments for member fees, trips, registrations, and more.
• Branding: Fully customizable areas within Ludus to reflect your organization's branding.
• Ticket Transfer: No more having to hold tickets for someone, you can easily transfer it to another phone # or email!

Custom Clickable Playbills & Rosters

Experience the future of event planning with our digital playbills, event programs, and rosters. Say goodbye to cumbersome paper copies and embrace the convenience of an interactive digital solution. A solution that is also FREE to your organization.

1. No App Download Required - The beauty of a Browser App is that your users do not have to download anything. Users can scan a QR Code and immediately be in the right place to view your program content.
2. Easy to Navigate - Simplified screens and large buttons allow users to easily find all the information they need. From maps to cast bios, sports schedules to booster club, sponsor ads & more. It's all there!
3. Powerful Features -

• Interactive Playbills & Rosters
• Custom Layouts
• Player's Bios and Stats
• QR Code Accessible
• Performance Schedules
• Photo Galleries
• ShoutOut Messages for Players

Get a kickback for you and us at Virginia Thespians to expand more student opportunities, get coupons for your community, and make your playbill/program journey easier!

WINTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEACHERS!

• Virginia Thespian Festival Jan 9-11, 2026 in Tysons ~ Join us!

APAP|NYC 2026

• January 9–13, 2026 — New York City

• Performing arts presenters & educators conference — includes theatre education programming

NCTAE Winter Focus 2026 (North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators)

• February 20–22, 2026 — Emerald Isle, NC

• Retreat-style PD for theatre teachers; accredited workshops

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS / SCHOOLS:

• VTF 2025 - Jan 9-11th in Tysons Corner, VA (stay tuned for our app released with all opportunities
• Tisch School of the Arts “Future Theatre Artists Workshop” (for high school students): Weekly sessions starting January 31, 2026
• Traveling Players Ensemble (Tysons Corner, VA) - Traveling Players Ensemble - Year-round acting classes for kids and teens (grades 2–12) including fall session classes, covering everything from scene study to improvisation
• Broadway Student Summit 2026 — NYC — Middle & High School Focus, February 14–15, 2026 in New York City.
• Winter Workshop (Broadway Artists Alliance) — Feb 14‑16, 2026 (NYC) – Ages ~10‑21; “triple threat” training weekend in acting/voice/dance.
• 50th Annual Virtual AHEA Conference — Feb 25, 2026 (Online)

• Future Theatre Artists Workshop — Weekly Saturdays, Jan 31–May 9, 2026 (NYU / NYC, possibly hybrid) – For high school “emerging theatre artists” to build ensemble voice, performance skills.

• StudentsLive, Inc. – Offers in‑person & virtual “Broadway Workshops” for student groups (2‑hour sessions) which can be customized online/virtual

• Check your local theatre companies for more training and unique student opportunities!

Use the most up-to-date logos , colors, fonts, etc. for a refresh and to get your branding up to speed with our new logos. Break a leg on fall auditions, productions, one act competitions, ITS inductions, first quarters, and more. Let us know how we can help support you this year!

Here is an easy step-by-step checklist for spring inductions. Use these materials as you see fit!

1. Hold an interest meeting. Ask- Who is interested in becoming inducted into ITS?

2. Share out the point application (your own copy) for students to complete with their past and current theatrical experiences for certain point values.

3. Have students fill out the Member Google form, (your own copy) for the exact information you need to collect to put them into the official ITS/ EdTA system, and pay $35 for the one-time membership fee, which lasts them a lifetime. (More materials at the bottom of the newsletter to promote and explain ITS.)

4. Hold inductions. Here is a sample outline to use. You can create your own rituals, traditions, or if you are in a pinch, it can be less than 30 minutes before school starts or before a rehearsal for example.

5. Log into your myedta account to input all of your new inductees.

6. Pay the lump sum as the director, if your students didn't pay EdTA directly. Our suggestion is to collect the money as you typically do for school events, work with your bookkeeper or boosters to cut one check to EdTA to keep it simple.

7. Hold an end of year or semester celebration to hand out the new goodies when they are delivered to the school! Here is the Thespian store for graduation regalia. If you are trying to save money, cords can be found on Amazon too.

Don't have a troupe yet? Read more about the benefits and process here! You do not need a minimum number of students now to activate/ reactivate your troupe. Get started today! Other resources on inductions from EdTA. Want a 2nd troupe director or someone to go in your place to Thespian events? Consider an Associate Troupe Director! Have you renewed your troupe for the year? If not, follow these instructions. This needs to be done annually for your troupe to stay active.

1. How to renew? Troupe directors, log in to your member portal at myedta.schooltheatre.org

2. Click the "My Orders" button.

3. Renew by Oct 15th for this year!

*Hold fall inductions, so your students get inducted, so they get the discounts for all events and, so they can qualify to move onto nationals with their Thespys. Deadline to be inducted is around 4/15.

Did you hear we have a Virginia Thespians Alumni Facebook group? Consider passing this along to your graduating seniors. So far, it is an inspiring network of over 300 professionals, who can be valuable resources for your students beyond high school. These are previous Thespians who remember what it is like to be in their shoes and many of which are happy to serve as mentors. We are creating an alumni board to also fundraise resources for students going to festival, bring in more alumni guest artists, and more! If you are an alumni, consider joining it yourself! We have many more plans in store for the alumni to partner with us to support the current as well as future generations of Virginia Thespians! Join us today!

Check our social media accounts for EdTA, our parent organization or for VA Thespians for recent reminders and updates. Get more resources, learn more about International Thespian Society, and more!

Follow us on Instagram: @vathespians

Email: executivedirector@vathespian.org
Website: https://www.vathespian.org/mission.html
Location: Winchester, VA, USA
Phone: 703-554-3416
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaThespians
Twitter: @thespians1