Jewelle Blackman and More to Join FIND YOUR LIGHT Youth Theatre Experience

Following its inaugural event in 2025, Find Your Light: Youth Theatre Experience will return to Toronto November 6-8, 2026, expanding to three days of programming designed to inspire, connect and celebrate Canada's youth theatre community.

Find Your Light welcomed approximately 200 students and educators from Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland in its first year. The 2026 event will expand its reach with dedicated programming for school groups, theatre educators and private performing arts studios.

At the heart of Find Your Light is a simple idea: young Canadians should have opportunities to come together, learn from leading theatre professionals and see the possibilities of a future in the arts right here at home.

Students will experience singing, acting and dancing workshops working with inspiring artists such as Jewelle Blackman (Hadestown OBC), David Connolly (Artistic Director, Drayton Entertainment), and Hailey Lewis (SIX US Tour). Sponsors include Mirvish Productions, The Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, and youth theatre publishers Beat By Beat Press and Pioneer Drama. Additional door prizes provided by Concord Theatricals and Music Theatre International. Theatre Sheridan will provide an info session for parents and older students, and the event will welcome Broadway and West End professional Liz Botros as the keynote speaker. She's passionate about introducing young people to the multitude of careers that exist within the theatre industry beyond the stage.

The weekend will also provide opportunities for Canada's theatre educators to connect and learn from one another, with dedicated professional development programming.

Adding an international opportunity to the event, performing arts adventure specialists Travel Gang will host auditions for young performers interested in representing Canada at the Junior Theatre Festival Europe in May 2027. Students will have the opportunity to audition while working with professional theatre artists, making the process itself an educational experience.

Find Your Light was created not as a competition, but as an opportunity for young musical theatre artists to learn with and from one another. Students and theatre educators from different schools, studios, cities and provinces are encouraged to connect, collaborate and return to their own theatre communities with new skills, ideas and inspiration.