When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, he is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. But he's not prepared for the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, who is determined to exercise control over the town's youth. When the reverend's rebellious daughter sets her sights on Ren, her roughneck boyfriend tries to sabotage Ren's reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. The heartfelt story that emerges pins a father longing for the son he lost against a young man aching for the father who walked out on him.
To the rockin' rhythm of its Oscar and Tony-nominated Top 40 score, augmented with dynamic new songs, Footloose celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people while guiding them with a warm heart and open mind.
PERFORMANCE/TICKET INFO
Thursday, July 30, 7 p.m.
Friday, July 31, 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 1, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
General seating for all performances.
If you need assistance with purchasing tickets online, require accessible seating, or have any questions about the performance, please use the contact form below to leave your name and a callback number. A ticket volunteer will return your message and will be happy to assist you.
Tickets can also be purchased in person at the door with cash or check. Ticket box office will open 1 hour prior to each performance.
Please email us with any questions.
2026 Fees: Fees may be paid in increments. Please send us an email if you have any questions about fees or to set a plan. Payment in full is due by the date of audition. After the cast list is sent out, 50% refunds will be given if a member chooses to not participate. We do not cut; anyone who wishes to perform on stage will be cast. Auditions are merely for role placement.
Pay now via credit card / PayPal (using options below), or bring cash or check made payable to "Simsbury Summer Theatre" to your audition.
Simsbury Summer Theatre for Youth is well-known for its exceptional annual production of a full-scale Broadway musical. Under the direction of a team of talented theatre professionals, for six weeks each summer, SST provides a comprehensive, challenging, and fun educational experience for its members. SST is intended for ages those entering freshman year of high school through age 20, generally age 14-20. Other ages may be considered at the discretion of the Board, please email us to inquire.
SST is a self-funded, not-for-profit private community theatre organization committed to giving young adults the opportunity to learn, create, express, and enjoy the magic of theatre, both on stage and off. Unpaid internships with personal letters of recommendation and community service hours are available for behind the scenes leadership in costuming, set building, and other key tech roles.
2026 marks our 60th anniversary. We hope you join us as we celebrate this incredible milestone!
Our mission statement:
Simsbury Summer Theatre for Youth (SST) was formed in Simsbury, CT in 1966 to produce a full-scale Broadway musical for youth members in the region entering 9th grade through age 22, allowing them to experience constructive educational opportunities in theatre arts during the six weeks of summer production. SST's goal is to develop performance and organizational skills on a multitude of important levels, creating self-confidence and promoting friendships among all participants while providing enjoyable entertainment for residents of Simsbury and surrounding towns. SST is open to all students interested in developing poise, self-assurance, and skills in artistic expression such as singing, acting, dancing, orchestra participation, and backstage technical work. The organization provides young people with challenges to meet, leadership and learning opportunities onstage and off, adult mentorship, and a deep sense of community in which friendships have been forged for life. Participants learn how to put on a show, and have the opportunity to take a leadership role running a non-profit on the Youth Board as they learn about themselves and what they can accomplish. SST is a place where hard work, commitment, enthusiasm, teamwork, and active learning provide the foundation for artistic self-expression.
Simsbury Summer Theatre exists as a result of donations from our supporters. Your donations help us to create the world-class theatre you witness each summer. Additionally, they ensure that need-based partial and full scholarships can be given to students. SST is an organization where our young adults feel safe to be themselves, take chances in their creativity, and garner life-long friendships.
Will you become a Friend of Simsbury Summer Theatre?
Options:
✅ Donate any amount using Venmo (username simsburytheatre24)
✅ Send a check (made out to Simsbury Summer Theatre) to:
P.O. Box 82, Simsbury, CT 06070
✅ Check out our Amazon Wish List
✅ Click one of the levels below to make a donation via PayPal.
Thank you!
I am not comfortable with any in-person meetings; will I still be able to participate and get the experience?
Yes! All workshops and videos will be available virtually, via a members-only Facebook page (we will accommodate anyone who doesn't use Facebook). Students will also be able to record their songs at home with tracks that we will provide.
How will the kids who attend in-person be kept socially distant?
We will be following whatever the state standards are at the time. Everyone who attends will be required to wear a mask. Kids will be separated into groups the size of whatever the state standards are.
Where will the in-person meetings be held?
We will be meeting outdoors at the Grange in West Simsbury (236 Farms Village Road, across from the post office). There is parking in the Grange parking lot as well as in the adjacent shopping center.
What safety measures will the SST adults be implementing?
All adults will also wear masks. Everyone who attends will be responsible for washing hands before arrival. We will be taking everyone's temperature upon arrival with a contactless thermometer. Hand sanitizer will be available. All indoor surfaces will be cleaned prior to students' arrival each day, and sanitized between uses.
How will in-person singing be done?
There will be no full group in-person singing. One-on-one and small groups will rehearse at least 6 feet apart, facing different directions (toward open doors and windows if indoors), or outdoors. Group recordings will be done in individual pieces.
In the past, SST has had snacks on some occasions. How will snacks be handled this summer?
We will not be providing snacks this summer. Kids may bring their own snacks, if necessary.
What will I need to bring with me if I attend in-person?
A face mask will be required. Please bring something to sit outdoors on, whether it be a camp chair or beach towel. You will need to bring your sheet music, preferably in a folder or binder, and a pencil. A water bottle and snack (if you think you'll need one). Perhaps some bug spray.
How will I do a virtual audition?
Best options are to record yourself using the Smule Sing app, or a YouTube karaoke track. Please choose a musical theatre song, and record a verse and chorus (which is around 38 measures). Please email your audition no later than June 24.
Leapin' Lizards! Based on Harold Gray's comic strip, Annie is a worldwide sensation and a seven-time Tony Award winner, including Best Musical. With a brilliant book and score by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Charnin, it features classic songs like "Tomorrow."
Set in 1930s New York, Annie, a spirited orphan, seeks her missing parents and escapes her cruel caretaker, Miss Hannigan. With her friends and the help of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she faces adventures and outsmarts Miss Hannigan's schemes. She finds a new family with Oliver Warbucks, Grace Farrell, and Sandy the dog.
This family-friendly musical is our 60th summer production—don't miss it!
We are proud to have produced a musical every summer since 1966. Here is the past decade of shows.
2025 - Annie
2024 - Grease
2023 - Rock of Ages
2022 - Mamma Mia!
2021 - Working
2020 - Cabaret 2020, Some Good Tunes
2019 - The Drowsy Chaperone
2018 - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
2017 - On the Town
2016 - The Music Man
Get out your hair gel and your bobby socks and dance your way to SST this summer because we are going back to 1959 and performing one of the most loved and iconic musicals of all time!
Our 55th annual production, Grease, is a well-known and well-loved musical about American high schoolers, featuring music in the rock ‘n roll style of the 1950s. The hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping “Pink Ladies” sing and dance their way through their senior year of high school. Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. An eight-year run on Broadway and two subsequent revivals place Grease among the world’s most popular musicals.
With 17 named roles and a large ensemble, this is truly a show where everyone will shine! Our new Production Team is committed to precisely that!
click here for cast information
The Simsbury Summer Theatre for Youth was founded in 1966 when approximately 100 high school and college students presented L’il Abner at Eno Memorial Hall. Each year since, SST has produced a Broadway musical, moving from Eno Hall to the Simsbury High School stage, to the Westminster School’s Centennial Theater, and back to Simsbury High School in 2020! SST alumni have starred in Broadway and regional shows and become Grammy-winning artists, pursuing careers in directing, technical theater, and instrumental and vocal performance. Others are enjoying life outside the performing arts mainstream, staying involved through community groups. Read more...
read more history
Will Leschber (Director) is a proud Simsbury resident and is more than honored to join the historic Simsbury Summer Theater this season. He holds a BA in English with a minor in Theatre from Arizona State University and has directed productions across the country, from San Francisco's Young Performers Theater to abridged Shakespeare in Arizona and further on to Hartford Middle Schools. He also founded and developed the Theatre Department at Achievement First Middle School in Hartford, where he directed 10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, adaptations of All That, and other productions.
A multi-hyphenate man of many hats, Will also designed lighting, sound, costumes, and fight choreography for The Hobbit at Young Performers Theater. Though he loves directing, he is perhaps best known as an actor, having performed throughout the Bay Area with SF Fringe Festival & Theatre Pub, and more recently he's continued creating locally with Theatre Guild of Simsbury and Farmington Valley Players. Recent highlights include the TGS productions of Puffs, Our Town Simsbury (2022), and serving as Artistic Production Photographer for FVP's Kodachrome.
Will is deeply grateful to be back in the director's chair and extends heartfelt thanks to his truly talented wife, Ashley Cowan, and their endlessly theatrical daughters three. Love to you all!
A longtime resident of Simsbury, this is Michael’s second show with Simsbury Summer Theater. He has been involved in over one hundred productions as actor, stage director, music director, and pit musician. At Rockville High School, he conducted three choirs, taught AP Music Theory, Introduction to Broadway, and was district music department chair. Michael currently directs a concert series for McLean Retirement Community’s Garmany Theater. He and his wife Carol love to travel. This fall, they are visiting Paris with relatives for two weeks. Michael has had a fantastic time working with this enormously talented cast and dedicated crew.
Rachel Armstrong brings over 15 years of experience as a dance instructor and choreographer in the Farmington Valley, currently teaching at D.A.N.C.E. by Kristin in Collinsville. She has taught students of all ages and levels at multiple studios, specializing in hip hop, jazz, lyrical, partnering, and musical theater.
Rachel has choreographed for musical productions at Canton High School (Emma), Simsbury High School (Guys and Dolls, Anastasia), and Simsbury Summer Theater (Some Good Tunes, Working, Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, Grease, Annie), helping young performers shine on stage through her dynamic and expressive choreography. Her work in jazz and hip hop has earned multiple awards at dance competitions across Connecticut.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Connecticut and is a certified Acrobatic Arts instructor as well as a certified Tai Chi instructor, bringing both technical expertise and a thoughtful, holistic approach to her teaching.
Rachel is passionate about sharing her love of dance and is continually inspired by her students. Their creativity, energy, and joy fuel her commitment to helping each dancer grow in confidence and artistry.
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