Nantucket Stage Company Takes Home Honors At Junior Theater Festival In Atlanta

Island students representing the Nantucket Stage Company earned recognition at the 2026 Junior Theater Festival Atlanta earlier this month.

The festival, dedicated to rewarding and celebrating excellence in student-driven musical theater programs, was held January 16-18 at the Cobb Convention Center in Atlanta, GA.

The Nantucket Stage Company received the Excellence in Acting Award, and two Nantucket students, Tomas Young and Julia Nogueira, were named Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, an honor bestowed on a select group of outstanding student performers.

At the festival, each group performed 15 minutes of a Broadway Junior musical for the judges. The Nantucket Stage Company presented "The Drowsy Chaperone JR" to judges Derek Bowley, iTheatrics teaching artist and music director, and Holly Stanfield, a theatre educator and winner of the Stephen Schwartz Musical Theatre Teacher of the Year.

"The Nantucket Stage Company’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone JR entertained and engaged us with their strong vocal work and their stylized choreography," Stanfield said. "These students understood the period of the piece and demonstrated skill beyond their years in creating the world of the play."