Servant Stage will present First Look Jr. on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. at Lancaster Alliance Church, 210 Pitney Road, Lancaster. The event will celebrate highlights of the 2022 Youth Theatre season and feature the unveiling of 2023 season of Youth Theatre shows, camps, and programs as well as the presentation of a $1,000 arts scholarship for a graduating senior. The performance will feature highlights from the recent youth productions of "The Lion King Jr.," "Frozen Jr.," "Annie Jr.," "Matilda Jr.," and "Our Town." Artistic director Wally Calderon noted that in prior years, both the youth and MainStage programs were announced at the First Look Extravaganza, but they will now be broken out into separate events.

Registration for all of the 2023 youth programs will open immediately after the event, with early registration incentives through Thursday, Dec. 1. Families are encouraged to register early as programs fill up quickly.

In 2016, Servant Stage offered its first summer musical theater camp, "Godspell Jr.," taking more than two dozen students through an entire production process, from auditioning to a full performance, in one week. The students then took the show "on tour" to local retirement communities to experience Servant Stage's model of making theater accessible to those unable to go out to see shows.

Six years later, Servant Stage's Youth Theatre program has experienced the most exponential growth of any area in the organization. In the last year, Servant Stage offered two winter youth productions and three summer theater camps - all filled to capacity with more than 300 total students involved and over 150 students on waiting lists - as well as a Teen Company, Apprentice, Company, and Junior Company for students who trained weekly with local instructors throughout the summer. Servant Stage continues to offer weekly pay-what-you-will theater classes every Monday night for youths of all ages, reaching over 350 students in the past year.

First Look Jr. is free and open to the public, and tickets can be reserved at http://www.servantstage.org or by calling 717-455-0255.

Servant Stage's full 2023 MainStage season will be announced during the First Look Extravaganza, a live online event on Friday, Nov. 18, in conjunction with the ExtraGive. All performances are offered at pay-what-you-will prices as part of Servant Stage's mission to make great performances accessible to everyone in the community. For more information, visit the aforementioned website.

Servant Stage is a nonprofit theater that has served Lancaster County since 2011 and brings entertainment to over 50,000 audience members each year.