Senior Conservatory
Senior Conservatory 2024 Presenting
Mean Girls Jr.
Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. How will this naïve newbie rise to the top of the popularity pecking order? By taking on The Plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady and her friends devise a “Revenge Party” to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung.
Program Overview
Age Range
13-18
*Entrance by audition only
Program Dates
July 8 - August 1, 2024
Monday to Friday
10:00am – 6:00pm
Performance Dates
Wednesday, July 31 at
1:30pm & 7:30pm
Thursday, August 1 at
1:30pm & 7:30pm
Program Cost
$1495.00
The Senior Conservatory hits the floor boards running, with their individualized character paths in hand, as we begin the process of developing our production. Our rehearsal schedule allows for us to have the first two weeks interspersed with workshops, creative projects, and masterclasses in voice, acting, and dance. When the students aren’t in rehearsal they will be delving into character analysis and developing their skills in the craft!
Previous workshops include: Voice & Diction, Vocal Technique, Body Rhythm & Percussion, Musical Theatre Improvisation, Stage Combat, Brand Development, Acrobatics, Psychology of Performance, and Dance Sessions: Tap/ Hip Hop/ Broadway/ Jazz.
Program & Production Auditions
The Senior program has an auditioned enrollment with 25 potential character tracks in our production. Once you register for an audition we will send you a welcome email outlining the audition requirements with instructions on how to create, post, and share your videos for the creative team to watch and enjoy. Once the deadline has passed we will notify all students of the audition results.
Deadline to submit auditions is May 1st, 2024.
Meet the Team
Chris Adams, Director
For the conservatory, Chris has directed Into the Woods Jr, 13 The Musical, High School Musical JR, Seussical JR, and The Addams Family Young@Part® since 2018. Chris holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Victoria, studied Musical Theatre in New York City with Circle in the Square Theater School and is a two-time Jessie Award-nominated Director. He directed and produced Sondheim’s Company for Raincity Theatre, winning 3 Jessie Awards. Chris’ production of Sweeney Todd by Raincity Theatre won 4 Ovation Awards and 4 Jessie Awards. He has directed the Vancouver and Toronto productions of The Wizards Brunch, Rock of Ages with Renegade Productions, plus Snow White, A Christmas Carol, King Arthur, and Alice in Wonderland with Metro Theatre. He was also the director of the Ovation Award-winning Bring On Tomorrow Co production of 13 The Musical at the Waterfront Theatre. Chris has worked at the Lindbjerg Academy for the last 9 years having directed 18 of its musicals. Also a successful producer, having won two Jessie Awards for producing, Chris has worked with such companies as Royal City Musical Theatre, Align Entertainment, The Snapshots Collective, MascallDance, The Impromptu Cabaret Festival, WRS Productions, Presentation House Theatre, and Bring on Tomorrow Co. He is the co-Artistic Managing Director of Raincity Theatre; having just directed their 4th production; Parade by Jason Robert Brown.
Shawn Henry, Music Director
Shawn Henry is an actor, singer, writer, and director born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick. His foray into the world of the performing arts began at the age of 12 with the song and dance troupe Characters Incorporated. After graduation from high school, Shawn earned a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in voice performance from Dalhousie University. Shawn then moved to Toronto where he continued studying voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Favourite acting credits include Dan in Next to Normal, Riff-Raff in Rocky Horror Show, Anatoly in Chess the Musical, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Dickon in The Secret Garden, and Man 2 in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. While in Toronto he also was Musical Director for a number of shows including Something Happened on the way to the Forum, Mame, Anything Goes, The Pajama Game, Crazy for You, Footloose the Musical, and Thoroughly Modern Mille.
In 2013, Shawn returned home to Fredericton and started his own production company called Blind Faith Productions and since then has directed a number of musicals including Next to Normal, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Evita, Mary Poppins (Theatre New Brunswick) and director of Christmas at the Playhouse (Fredericton Playhouse). His desire for teaching at the University level was sparked while working as an instructor at St. Thomas University’s Musical Theatre Department where he music directed Heathers the Musical and Spring Awakening. In 2018 he received his Master of Arts in Musicology from Dalhousie University. His master’s thesis was entitled “Sounding Disability in Musical Theatre.”
Shawn moved to beautiful Vancouver in 2019 and is currently a full-time faculty member at Capilano University’s Musical Theatre Department. Select musical directing credits include Into the Woods, A Chorus Line (Capilano U Theatre), Amélie, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Cabaret (Arbutus Studio Theatre), Nunsense (Boone Dog Productions), and Spring Awakening (Arbutus Studio and Renegade). Last summer he had the privilege of music directing the Senior Conservatory at Kay Meek for their production of Into the Woods. Shawn is looking forward to another great summer at Kay Meek working with Chris and Troy as musical director for Mean Girls!
Troy McLaughlin, Choreographer
Troy McLaughlin is a native of Richmond, Virginia who now proudly lives in Vancouver. He holds a B.F.A. in Jazz Dance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. There he studied with Judith Jamison, tap great Lavaughn Robinson, and members of the Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and Jo Jo Smith’s Dance Factory. Troy co-founded Tap Team Two, danced with Manhattan Tap and had the privilege of working with the late great Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers. Highlights of Troy’s career include performing in Disney’s The Lion King, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, The Radio City Rockettes Show, The Siegfried and Roy Show,, Apple TV’s Schmigadoon, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Hallmark movies and several tv/film and theatre projects. Troy currently shares his talents as a professor at Capilano University in the Musical Theatre and Acting for Stage and Screen Programs.
Troy has choreographed for musicals, industrial shows, and dance companies world-wide. And taught at numerous universities, public schools, and dance studios. He was a featured tap dancer in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics, choreographed the movie GUNLESS with Paul Gross, assisted in the creation of flying sequences for Broadway’s Spiderman, and Directed/Choreographed for Norwegian Cruise Line. Troy is the creator of the western Canadian tap anthem THE WEST COAST RIFF and of the BODY BEATS fitness program.
His company Troy’s BopShop brings dance into school systems, theatres (and wherever it’s needed (www.bopshop.ca). The company has worked in Vancouver, Las Vegas and Australia to name a few. Whether it’s hip hop, body percussion, musical theatre, or creative movement and choreography, through teaching students and teachers of all levels and ages he helps them gain confidence and close in on their potential.
Under the Umbrella of Troy’s Bop Shop there’s also Troy McLaughlin’s Dance Works that has created 3 full-length shows. The first was I HAVE A DREAM which reflected on civil rights trailblazers in dance and and their influences today. Followed by the tap and flamenco telling of the musicals WESTSIDE STORY and GREASE with The Karen Flamenco Company, and the latest show S.T.I.L. (Stuff That I Like) an eclectic mix of jazz, tap, body percussion and other “stuff that I like”
Refund Policy
100% refund if student withdraws 30 days or more before the first day of the program
50% refund if student withdraws less than 30 days prior to the first day of the program
0% refund once program starts
If you have any questions regarding the Youth Conservatory program, please contact the program director Kimberly Markarian at [email protected]
