Be a part of our cast!
SHOW ANNOUCEMENT
COMING SOON!
Be a part of our cast!
SHOW ANNOUCEMENT
COMING SOON!
Course Title: Children's Theatre: COMING SOON
Applicable Grade Level(s): Grade 4-9 (rising)
Cost: $1,750
Dates: Monday June 29, 2026 - Saturday July 25, 2026 (no camp July 3rd)
Times below subject to change:
June 29th - July 17th, Monday through Friday (9:30 AM - 2:30 PM)
Tech Week: Monday, July 20th - Thursday, July 23rd (9:30 AM - 3:30 PM)
Show #1: Friday July 24th @ 6:30 PM (students will be needed 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM)
Show #2 and #3: Saturday July 25th @ 3:00 PM and 6:30 PM (students will be needed from 1:30 PM - 8:30 PM)
Location: Mountain Lakes High School Auditorium
Students must bring their own snack and lunch each day.
Course Description:
Returning for our 6th summer season, registration for the Mountain Lakes Children's Theatre Summer Program is open! Our staff and curriculum have grown, due to the ravenous interest in professional-level theater experiences for the community. We invite your child to jump in with us! Instructors include Michael Hollick, Catherine Alessio, and Laura Menard with special professional guests. MLHS Theater students will serve as mentors.
Children's Theatre faculty includes:
Michael Hollick is a veteran Broadway performer (Disney’s Tarzan and The Lion King) and proud ML father. Mr. Hollick has been running programs within our community and has supported ML school district theater productions since 2017. He has taught acting master classes at Sacramento Theatre Company, Louisiana's NOCCA Arts Conservatory, and University of New Mexico.
Catherine Alessio is thrilled to continue working with Mountain Lakes students and staff in her second year with the program. She has the honor of serving as the Assistant Director for the MLHS Fall Drama and Spring Musical and brings over 15 years of experience in performance and vocal training. She is excited to continue seeing the world of musical theatre through the lens of an assistant director and supporting students both on and off the stage.
Laura Menard, a long-time Laker, rounds out our trio of high-caliber faculty. Ms. Menard has over 25 years as an accomplished voice teacher, vocal coach and director. She holds a B.M. from The New England Conservatory of Music and has done graduate work at The Juilliard School. For 8 years she was the director of The Children’s Chorus at The New York City Opera Company. Her students have performed on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Lion King, Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton and many others.
Guest artists from our wide network of Broadway and theater education professionals.
Mountain Lakes High School theater student volunteers will help with sets and run crew, while mentoring and providing positive role models for our student performers.
We hope you will join us for a summer full of fun, learning, friendship, and theater!
Open to rising
4th through 9th Grade
Tuition is $1,750 per cast member.
Tuition is free for crew members.
June 22 - July 25, 2026
See times and days above.
Rising 7th Grade - High School Students
Students will be assigned a role to help with running the production such as Assistant Director or Stage Manager.
High School Students who wish to volunteer will receive service hours if applicable!
Great for College Applications!
DIRECTOR
Michael Hollick is a veteran Broadway actor and educator with two children in the Mountain Lakes Schools. He has run a Theatre Camp every summer for the elementary level, and works closely with the high school casts of the MLHS productions. He has taught acting master classes at Sacramento Theatre Company, Louisiana's NOCCA Arts Conservatory, and University of New Mexico.
On Broadway, he's starred in Tarzan, Jumpers, and The Lion King. He spent a decade with the Off-Broadway experiential Argentinian shows De La Guarda and Fuerzabruta (original cast), and has traveled the globe extensively with both shows. A seasoned veteran in live corporate events, Michael has choreographed, directed, produced and performed for industry clients such as Redkin, Canon, and bio-pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca, Celgene and Sanofi-Pasteur. His television credits include "Law and Order", "Sex and the City" and "Hawaii Five-0". He also performed both motion capture and voice for the anti-hero Niko Bellic in the critically acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto IV, which broke industry sales records by earning $500 million in the first week of its release and earned him a Video Game Award for Best Performance.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Catherine Alessio is excited to return to Mountain Lakes Children’s Theater for her second year as Assistant Director. A lifelong enthusiast of musical theater, Catherine continues to embrace the collaborative process of storytelling and creative expression alongside students and staff. She has the honor of serving as the Assistant Director for the MLHS Fall Drama and Spring Musical, further deepening her commitment to arts education within the Mountain Lakes community.
Catherine brings extensive performance experience, having portrayed principal roles in Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Mary Poppins, and numerous other productions since childhood. She earned an Associate’s Degree in Musical Theatre from The County College of Morris and later pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Catherine is passionate about bringing stories to life and fostering confidence, discipline, and joy in young performers. She is grateful for the opportunity to continue working with the cast and creative team and looks forward to another successful and inspiring season.
VOCAL MUSIC DIRECTOR
Laura Menard is a voice teacher, vocal coach and musical director in New Jersey and New York City. She holds a B.M. from The New England Conservatory of Music and has done graduate work at The Juilliard School. For 8 years she was the director of The Children’s Chorus at The New York City Opera Company, and she has taught at Brooklyn College, Mannes School of Music and Juilliard American Opera Center. She has many students on Broadway in shows including Hamilton, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Lion King, Fun Home, Kinky Boots, Finding Neverland, Matilda, Fiddler on the Roof, White Christmas, On The Town, Jersey Boys and Mary Poppins.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY: YOUNG@PART
is presented in special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
Reach out to the Directors!