Naperville, IL

(630) 243-5100

Same Programming, New Name! Academy of the Arts is now Illinois Conservatory for the Arts

Coming up:

IMPACT: Musical Theatre

Winter | January 2-5, 2025

Broadway Baby

When 10-year-old Layla Cummings took part in a mock audition with renowned Broadway casting director Merri Sugarman at our Impact Musical Theater Camp in July, the last thing she expected was to be asked to try out in New York. But Merri was so impressed that she invited Layla to audition for the upcoming national tour of Les Misérables. Within days the young performer found herself singing Castle on a Cloud at Pearl Studios in Manhattan.

“The audition was really fast but so exciting, hustling and bustling just like New York,” said Layla, the youngest student at our first camp. “I was so excited because I knew I had done well before with Merri. The camp really made me feel prepared.”

Layla said she was speechless when she heard she’d been called in.

“It’s always been my dream to go to New York,” she said.

Her mom Laura said they had just two days to prepare. As well as booking flights and a hotel, Layla had to take an emergency lesson from her voice coach as she didn’t know young Cosette’s famous song.

“We had to drop everything, book a hotel and get out there,” she said. “It was nice. Layla had never been before. I had promised I would take her, so this was a great excuse.”

Layla and her mom waited anxiously in the packed studio before it was her turn.

“There were lots of shows auditioning at the same time,” said Laura. “There was a lot of very nervous energy from people warming up.”

Although Layla didn’t get the part, her mom made sure it was just a small part of a fabulous trip.

“I was pretty devastated, but mom said it would have been hard to do a tour as I’d have missed fifth grade,” she said.

On the bright side, they caught The Music Man and Wicked on Broadway and cheered themselves up with frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity.

Said Laura: “It’s all good. Since we came back, we’ve been getting a lot of interest from talent agencies so I think Layla will have an agent soon. We anxiously await the Academy’s fall schedule. It’s so next level. I had been looking at similar programs in New York so was blown away when they brought all this talent to Chicago. It was such an amazing experience. We are definitely missing something like this around here; for theater kids looking for that next level. They’ve given us lots of advice.”

JANUARY 2–5, 2025

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Chaz Wolcott / Dance

Chaz Wolcott is an actor, director and choreographer based in New York City, and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association. He earned his BFA in Dance from Oklahoma City University.

As a performer, Chaz has been seen as Buttons on the First National Tour of Disney’s Newsies. You can also catch Chaz’s performance in Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical, available for digital download on iTunes and Amazon. Chaz also starred in the 30th Anniversary Tour of Cats as the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. Chaz was featured on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance. Favorite regional credits include: 42nd Street (Andy Lee), Mary Poppins, Gypsy, Legally Blonde and productions at Music Theatre of Wichita, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, The Gateway, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Fulton Theatre, The Fireside, Casa Mañana, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Gretna Theatre and more.

Emily Kristen Morris / Voice

Emily Kristen Morris is an NYC-based actor, singer, dancer, certified vocal instructor, and popular online content creator (1.7 Million followers on TikTok). Emily has performed across the nation and internationally, and was most recently the Elphaba standby on the Broadway national tour of WICKED. Currently, Emily is starring as Elsa in Paramount Theatre’s production of Frozen. Her past theatre credits include: Bea in the national tour of Something Rotten, White Plains Performing Arts Center (Daisy in Side Show), The Rev (Sophie in Mamma Mia), Cape Playhouse, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra (Nellie in South Pacific in concert), Gateway Playhouse, Weston Playhouse, and New York Musical Theatre Festival. Emily has also performed as a solo vocalist with symphony orchestras, including the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in China, and the Norwalk Symphony. Her voice is also featured on Joey Contreras’ new album “In Pieces.” On social media Emily is popular for her voice-teaching videos, her singing covers, and her vocal-coach-reacts videos. When she’s not performing, Emily runs her highly sought-after voice studio, EKM Vocal Studio, where she teaches lessons, masterclasses and workshops to passionate singers both virtually and in-person in NYC. Emily is certified through the Institute For Vocal Advancement (IVA), and received her BFA in musical theatre from the University of Cincinnati; College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Salisha Thomas / Acting

SALISHA Thomas is a Broadway performer, author, former Miss California, a commercial and voiceover artist, a producer and director, vlogger, blogger, and media personality. She performed in the 1st National Touring and Broadway companies of Beautiful the Carole King Musical, and the Britney Spears Musical: Once Upon a One More Time. She’s the host of Black Hair in the Big Leagues and The Salisha Show podcasts and the red carpet correspondent for The Broadway Podcast Network. @theSalishashow www.thesalishashow.com

Patrick Maravilla / Casting

Born and raised in California, Patrick started as a performer but quickly fell in love with casting. As a Pisces with a Taurus moon, he aims to bring joy and light to the table while cultivating an inclusive and equitable space. Some of his favorite casting credits include Chicago, A Wonderful World, Peter Pan (National Tour), Gatsby, Life of Pi, Destiny of Desire, and Come Fall in Love!

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The Pilot Program for ICA’s K-12 day school is launching Fall 2025.

Fill out the form below to get on the official interest list and access the survey form. Applications will open in Early Spring 2025.