Altoona Community Theatre needs you!
ACT enhances and enriches our community with
- Quality live theatre that entertains audiences through our Mainstage Season
- Creative opportunities for children and teens through our Summer Drama Camps
- Tens of thousands of dollars in college scholarships through the Isaac Awards
- Empowering children with special needs through our Penguin Project
- Giving adult volunteers a creative outlet for their artistic and technical skills
- Creating a space where all of these people can contribute and belong
And we need your support to continue!
The Penguin Project®
The Penguin Project is a national organization that empowers children with special needs through theatre demonstrating that the special challenges of a disability should not handicap a child’s ability to participate in life’s experiences.
The goal of the project is to provide a supportive environment for children with disabilities to explore their creative talents. These young people are the stars of the show playing every single role.
They work so hard, and they are so supportive of each other. The energy at rehearsals and performances is just amazing!
ACT partnered with the Penguin Project last year for our inaugural production of Annie, Jr. with a cast of 20 and followed up this year with Disney’s Aladdin, Jr. with a cast of 42. Both productions were presented at Altoona Area High School’s new theatre.
The Isaacs – $67,000 in college scholarships
The annual Isaac Awards are like the Oscars or the Tony Awards for area high school musicals. This year, we had 20 schools from 6 counties participating.
We are pleased and proud to announce that area students participating in the 2024 Isaac Awards received $67,000 in college scholarships. (Our partner colleges are Penn State Altoona, Mount Aloysius College, and Juniata College.)
We send our judges to attend each of the participating schools’ performances. Then they confer and select nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Production, and more. Those nominations are released in early May.
The winners are announced at the awards show in late May when the Mishler Theatre is filled to the rafters with students, parents, and teachers for two nights in a row.
Steven C Helsel Legacy Scholarship
ACT’s annual Steven C. Helsel Legacy Scholarship is open to any graduating high school senior who has been involved actively in some capacity with ACT. The student’s experience can be onstage, backstage, or as part of our Summer Drama Camps for Children and Teens. The scholarship is for any field of study at any accredited post-secondary institution.
Announcement of the $1,000 scholarship recipient will take place during ACT’s Isaac Awards in May (although candidates do not have to have been involved in an Isaacs production).
Honor a Shining Star
Make a donation to Altoona Community Theatre in a special person’s honor or memory.
Shining Stars are featured in our Production Playbills for one calendar year.
On our donation form, select “Shining Star” as your campaign, then check the box that says “My donation is a Shining Star in honor or in memory of someone” and a new box will appear asking for information about your tribute.
Altoona Community Theatre, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization fully registered with the Internal Revenue Service and the PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations. All donations are tax deductible per applicable regulations.
It costs how much?
$14,500 to rent the Mishler Theatre for 1 production.
$8,000-$12,000 in royalties just for permission to present a musical.
$5,400 for a professional pit orchestra and conductor for a musical.
But the combined set and costume budgets are only $2,000-$3,000 per show thanks to our many volunteers who do the work.
Please consider donating today
For more than 75 years, Altoona Community Theatre has been lifting our audiences up with live theatre, making them laugh, sometimes making them cry a little, but always providing quality entertainment.
In addition, the Isaac Awards have been celebrating high school musicals from across our region for almost 20 years. This year, local students received a total of $67,000 in college scholarships through the Isaacs with 20 schools participating from 6 counties.
Two years ago, ACT partnered with the Penguin Project, a nationwide program providing a supportive environment for children with disabilities to explore their creative talents. These young people are the stars of the show playing every single role. This year, Disney’s Aladdin Jr. had a cast of 42 kids with special needs on the stage of Altoona Area High School’s new theatre.
For 35 years, ACT’s Summer Drama Camps have helped area children and teens build self-confidence, self-expression, and communication skills.
