Tony winners Cynthia Erivo and Kristin Chenoweth—plus Six co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss—have joined the roster of Broadway favorites appearing at the 2021 Junior Theater Festival Online Extravaganza. They join a list of previously announced special guests including Dear Evan Hansen writing duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, West Side Story and Once On This Island star Isaac Powell, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series showrunner Tim Federle, and more.
January 8 is the last day to register for the event, which will be held January 15-17. Register at JuniorTheaterFestival.com.
Erivo will join Pasek and Paul during their headlining concert. Chenoweth will be on hand for a panel discussion on Media Musicals, along with Federle, and Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical co-creators Dan Mertzlufft and Blake Rouse. Marlow and Moss will join a "Direct From Broadway" panel with Mean Girls' Krystina Alabado, Powell, Wicked and Frozen star Ryan McCartan, School of Rock's Luca Padovan and Isabella Russo, and Six star Brittney Mack. The "History Has Its Eyes On You" panel, discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion in theatre, will feature Taylor Iman Jones, Kikau Alvaro, Alabado, Rozalynn "Roz" Fulton, and Jiana J. Odland.
Playbill will be on hand to host the second annual JTF Theatre Trivia Showdown, with two student representatives from each attending group selected to participate and the entire festival invited to watch and play along on social media.
Created for organizations performing Music Theatre International's 30- and 60-minute Broadway Junior musicals and Online Editions, Junior Theater Festivals bring students and teachers together with Broadway professionals for a weekend of performances and workshops. Past attendees have included Ahrens and Flaherty, Skylar Astin, Shoshana Bean, Nicholas Christopher, Darren Criss, Zac Efron, Cynthia Erivo, Megan Hilty, Arielle Jacobs, Kenny Leon, Caissie Levy, Kara Lindsay, Lindsay Mendez, Alan Menken, Ben Platt, and Jeanine Tesori.
Though the January festival has moved online due to health restrictions, in-person festivals are currently planned for Sacramento, California, in May and Sugarland, Texas, in June. Festival sponsors for JTF include Playbill, Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Productions, and iHeartRadio Broadway.