Artistic Director: Chris Ikner
Surfside Conservatory is an audition-based, year-long pre-professional theater company for students in grades 6 through 12 who are serious about growing as actors, singers, dancers, and collaborative theater artists.
Throughout the year, Conservatory members will receive training in acting, voice, musical theater, dance and movement, audition technique, scene study, Shakespeare, ensemble performance, and professional theater practices while rehearsing and performing an ambitious season of work.
Students will also participate in master classes with working theater professionals from Central Florida, Broadway, and beyond.
The goal of Surfside Conservatory is to create more than a traditional youth theater program. We are building a company of young artists who train together, create together, challenge themselves, and learn what it means to work with discipline, curiosity, generosity, and commitment expected in a professional rehearsal room.
Students interested in joining the inaugural 2026-2027 Surfside Conservatory Company will audition for placement in the program, August 29th and 30th.
The conservatory is limited to 25 company members in grades 6 through 12. Following auditions, the inaugural Conservatory Company will be selected with regular classes and rehearsals beginning in September in preparation for Water For Elephants: Teen Edition.
THE 2026-2027 CONSERVATORY SEASON
WINTER MUSICAL
Water for Elephants: Teen Edition
December 4-13, 2026
The inaugural Conservatory company begins its season with Water For Elephants: Teen Edition.
This ambitious musical gives our students the opportunity to combine acting, singing, dance, movement, physical storytelling, and ensemble work in a full theater production.
Throughout the fall, students will apply the techniques they are developing in Conservatory classes directly to the rehearsal process.
SPRING PLAY:
ROMEO AND JULIET
March/April, Dates TBD
The conservatory will approach Shakespeare through a contemporary, physical, actor-centered production of Romeo and Juliet.
Students will explore classical text, character, relationships, movement, physical storytelling, and ensemble-based Shakespeare performance while discovering how to make Shakespeare immediate, personal, and alive.
YEAR-END MUSICAL THEATER REVIEW
ILLUMINATE
May/June, Dates TBD
The conservatory year culminates in ILLUMINATE, a musical theatre review created to showcase the individual voices, personalities, and strengths of our company members.
Rather than simply presenting another musical, ILLUMINATE will give students the opportunity to perform material selected and developed specifically for them while celebrating the company they have built throughout the year.
WHAT STUDENTS WILL STUDY
Acting
Students will study: Scene work, Character development, Objectives, Relationships, Script analysis, Improvisation, Listening, and Truthful performance.
The emphasis is not simply on learning how to perform but on developing young actors who can make specific intelligent emotionally connected choices.
Musical theater performance
Students will learn to connect acting, singing, and movement so that musical theater performance becomes storytelling rather than simply singing a song.
The focus will be on making clear acting choices through music and understanding how song text and movement work together.
Voice
Training may include healthy vocal technique, musical interpretation, ensemble singing, individual performance, and understanding how the voice serves character and story.
Dance and movement
Students will work in musical theater dance, movement, vocabulary, physical storytelling, ensemble movement, choreography, and developing greater confidence and freedom in their bodies.
Audition technique
Students will learn how to prepare and present audition material confidently and professionally.
Work may include
Songs, monologues, cold readings, dance calls, callback preparation, audition etiquette, selecting appropriate material.
Shakespeare and classic text
Students will learn how to approach heightened language without being intimidated by it.
Training may include verse prose, text analysis, character physicality, rhetoric, and making classical material personal and immediate.
Professional theater practices
A major component of Surfside Conservatory is teaching students how to work.
STUDENTS WILL LEARN
- Rehearsal etiquette
- Preparation punctuality
- Taking Direction
- Collaboration
- Respect for fellow artists
- Working with directors and choreographers
- Working with music directors
- Taking and applying notes
- Personal responsibility
- Professional communication
- Supporting an ensemble
WEEKLY CONSERVATORY SCHEDULE
MONDAYS 5-7PM
PRODUCTION REHEARSAL
Depending upon where we are in the rehearsal process Mondays may include
- Scene work
- Musical rehearsals
- Staging and blocking
- Character development
- Individual coaching
- Small group rehearsals
- Production-specific movement work
- Review and cleaning
WEDNESDAYS 5-9PM
CONSERVATORY TRAINING & PRODUCTION REHEARSAL
Wednesdays are the primary training evening for the conservatory company. Students will receive structured pre-professional training and apply that work directly to the production currently in rehearsal.
Training throughout the year may include
- Acting
- Scene Study
- Musical theater performance
- Voice
- Dance
- Movement
- Physical storytelling
- Monologue preparation
- Cold reading
- Text analysis
- Ensemble development
- Professional theater practices
SUNDAYS 6-9PM
PRODUCTION & ILLUMINATE REHEARSAL
Sunday evenings will be used for additional production rehearsals and the ongoing development of Illuminate. Exact Sunday rehearsal hours will be announced.
ONE SATURDAY EACH MONTH
GUEST ARTIST MASTER CLASS/CONSERVATORY INTENSIVE
Approximately one Saturday each month will be dedicated to concentrated training with a guest theater professionals beyond their regular Conservatory faculty.
These master classes are intended to expose young artists to different perspectives, techniques, career paths, and professional experiences.
Guest artists may come from the Space Coast Orlando and Central Florida, Regional Theaters, national tours, Broadway and other areas of the professional entertainment industry.
Master classes may include
- Audition technique
- Acting
- Voice
- Musical Theatre performance
- Dance
- Movement
- Stage Combat
- Shakespeare
- College audition preparation
- Professional auditions
- Working in Regional Theater
- Broadway and professional theatre
- The business of being a theater artist
