Youthclusive is entering its third season as a year-round performing arts company, and this weekend Santa Barbara County youth are invited to audition, lead, create, and work behind the scenes in its next full-length Broadway production: The Prom.
Participation is completely free.
Youth do not need prior theatre experience, professional training, or a traditional casting “type.” They do not need to choose between performing and leading. At Youthclusive, auditions are used to learn about each young person’s voice, interests, skills, and goals – not to decide whether they deserve a place in the company.
Youth may join as actors, singers, dancers, or pit musicians, or help build the production through directing, choreography, music direction, stage management, casting, costumes, sets, props, sound, lighting, media, marketing, ticketing, front of house, backstage operations, and the control room. Many company members participate in more than one pathway.
A Company Built by Young People
Youthclusive is a community-based, youth-founded, youth-led, and youth-directed nonprofit created to remove the barriers that keep young people out of the performing arts.
The company began with 14 participants and one central promise: access would never depend on a family’s ability to pay, prior experience, appearance, identity, disability, neurodiversity, language, body type, or fitting a narrow idea of who belongs in theatre.
Youthclusive charges no participation fees, maintains no waitlist, and does not turn interested youth away. When more young people arrive, the company expands casts, rehearsals, performances, production departments, crew positions, music opportunities, and leadership pathways so access grows rather than narrows.
Founder and director Chloe Voigt created Youthclusive at age 14 after recognizing that she was not the only young performer being placed into a box.
“I was always put into a box in theatre because of my weight and body size,” Voigt has said. “Then I started seeing other kids being typecast or excluded because of how they looked, who they were, or how much money their families had. I decided that if an adult wasn’t going to fix it, I would.”
Professional artists and adult mentors now work beside Youthclusive’s young people as collaborators, coaches, and mentors, but the youth retain creative ownership of the productions and the community they are building.
From One Sold-Out Show to Year-Round Programming
Youthclusive’s growth demonstrates how strongly its model is resonating.
Its inaugural production, The SpongeBob Musical, sold out every performance. The following season, High School Musical more than doubled youth participation and expanded to two casts, four performances, and much larger youth-led teams onstage, backstage, and in the control room.
High School Musical welcomed 472 audience members, including 181 young people. Through the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation’s Community Ticket Subsidy program, 99 K–12 students attended free.
Youthclusive then launched its first summer production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, officially becoming a year-round company. Seventy-five percent of that summer company was new to Youthclusive.
Those participants included youth who could not join during the school year, had limited access to school arts, were priced out of private summer programs, or were looking for meaningful creative and leadership opportunities after aging out of traditional camps.
Now, with The Prom, Youthclusive begins its third season and prepares to grow again.
Why The Prom?
The Prom is a joyful, funny, and deeply heartfelt musical about young people fighting for the right to be seen, celebrated, and included exactly as they are.
That message closely reflects Youthclusive’s mission.
The company believes theatre becomes stronger when differences are not merely accommodated but celebrated and when young people are trusted to shape the culture themselves. Youthclusive’s page-to-stage model gives participants real responsibility, whether they are delivering a song, calling a cue, designing a costume, mixing microphones, leading choreography, welcoming an audience, or helping another company member find confidence.
Every role matters. Every pathway contributes to the story.
More Than a Show
Joining Youthclusive offers more than performance experience. Young people build practical and transferable skills in:
- Creative leadership and collaboration
- Public speaking and communication
- Music, acting, dance, and storytelling
- Time and project management
- Design, construction, sound, lighting, and media
- Problem-solving and accountability
- Customer service and audience engagement
- Peer mentorship and community leadership
Eligible youth may also earn verified community service hours through leadership, production, technical, and outreach responsibilities.
Auditions, Leadership, and Crew Sign-Ups This Weekend
Youthclusive welcomes young people interested in:
- Performance: Acting, singing, dancing, and ensemble
- Music: Pit musicians, vocal leadership, and music support
- Creative Leadership: Directing, choreography, casting, and music direction
- Production: Stage management, costumes, sets, props, and production assistance
- Technical Theatre: Sound, lighting, microphones, cueing, and control-room operations
- Community and Media: Marketing, photography, video, ticketing, front of house, and audience engagement
No participation fee is required, and prior experience is not necessary.
Audition and interest dates: Sept. 26 & 27
Location: Youthclusive, Santa Barbara
Eligibility: Ages 10-18
Sign-up: Click the link here
Young people interested in leadership, crew, technical theatre, music, or production should complete the same interest form—even if they do not plan to audition for an onstage role.
Inclusion and access are Youthclusive’s superpowers. Every role is open, every difference is celebrated, and everyone belongs – onstage, backstage, in the pit, at front of house, and in the control room.
Learn more at www.youthclusive.com.
