ArtSMART

Grades 10-12

ArtSMART: cast of "The Wizard of Oz" performing on stage

A Great Co-op Musical Theatre Experience for high school students in the Hamilton area.

ArtSMART is a partnership between Theatre Ancaster and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and is a specialized secondary program at the HWDSB.  The program is a semester-long experience including classes in musical theatre subjects, performing, and technical production work in a Broadway musical!  This program is held in second semester from February to June at Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School.

Auditions for the 2025 program will be held in June, 2024

To be eligible for this unique program, students must:

– be 15 years of age or older

– have successfully completed a minimum of 8 credits

– submit all required application information by the due date

– attend an audition

About ArtSMART

The Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), in partnership with Theatre Ancaster. This project is part of the HWDSB’s vision for a secondary school component of ArtSMART – a focus on arts education in schools.

This program is for singers, actors, dancers, instrumentalists and students interested in technical theatre (set, lights, sound, costumes, stage management, etc.). In addition to the intense study of music, dance, and/or theatre, students work with Theatre Ancaster personnel as co-op education employers to produce a full Broadway Musical to be showcased to both student and general audiences in May and June.

ArtSMART has ten successful productions to its credit since the program was instituted by the HWDSB in partnership with Theatre Ancaster:  Into the Woods in 2009, Seussical the Musical in 2010, Once Upon A Mattress in 2011, Beauty and the Beast in 2012, The Wiz in 2013, Shrek in 2014, Oliver! in 2015, The Wizard of Oz in 2016, Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 2017, Mary Poppins in 2018, Matilda in 2019, Annie in 2022 and Seussical in 2023, which have played to more than 54,000 students from schools within the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board.

After a comprehensive selection process, Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School has taken over the ArtSMART program, including the SHSM. The Program of Choice in the performing arts focuses on instrumental and vocal music, drama, and dance. It allows students who wish to pursue a career in related fields an opportunity to focus on the arts while getting a high school diploma.

For more information, contact: youthprograms@theatreancaster.com