October 1, 2026
Standing and performing in front of hundreds of people under bright stage lights can be intimidating and nerve-racking for anyone, especially a young kid. But for many young and up-and-coming performers, stepping onto the stage for the first time becomes a blessing in disguise. It's a life-changing experience that builds confidence, resilience, composure, and lifelong friendships for any young student. You learn to combat your “what if?” fears and go out and do something you love, coming to realize that “fear” or “stage-fright” was all just an illusion in your head to begin with.
This summer, a new student-led program at Seekonk High School hopes to give dozens of local children between the ages of 9-14 that opportunity through its inaugural production of Newsies Jr. Newsies Jr. was chosen as the featured musical given that it offers strong opportunities across multiple performance disciplines. The show includes dynamic acting roles, high-energy choreography, and powerful vocal numbers, making it an ideal production for students with a wide range of strengths and interests. The program will focus on all three core areas of musical theater (acting, singing, and dancing) providing well-rounded performance training while helping students develop and refine their individual talents.
In the driver’s seat of this program is rising Seekonk High School 17-year-old senior Juliana Centracchio, along with her friends and classmates she collaborated with such as Alexandra Shields, Vincent Lastrina, and Willow Wilcox to create the Summer Theatre Program. All four are about to be seniors at Seekonk High School, are active in the theater program at the school, and will together lead the Summer Theatre Program. Juliana was inspired to establish the Summer Theatre Program from her own experiences in theater, along with the success of other programs, such as the summer program at Case High School in which her youngest sibling participated last year. Juliana recognized how meaningful it was to have opportunities to explore art through theater. While some students get to experience that in school through school plays, some kids don’t have that chance and many want to do even more theater and exploring beyond the school walls.
Juliana has been involved in theater since she was very young, performing in productions from the time she was a little kid. What began as an early love of being on stage developed into a deep commitment throughout high school, where she not only performed but also stepped into leadership roles within the theater community. In October 2025, she made her playwriting and directing debut with South of 14th Street, marking an important milestone in her creative journey. Juliana serves as the Student Director for the Seekonk High Theater Program, and when not directing, enjoys acting in the productions.
Beyond the stage, Juliana has also strengthened her storytelling skills and has learned many valuable lessons through academic programs at multiple prestigious colleges, such as Brown University, Smith College, Columbia University, and others for creative and novel writing.
“I’ve learned very different things about both creative and novel writing. When I was learning novel writing, the most valuable lesson I’ve learned was ‘killing your darlings’ (eliminating unnecessary sections of your writing despite how much you love them), which is very important in writing. It’s something I’ve used in play writing as well, but I think writers can get very attached to certain characters—they kind of become a part of you. So we did lots of lessons on that which I think helps me when I write anything now,” Juliana said.
“For play writing specifically, I think letting go of control is something that was new to me. When I took play writing for the first time at Brown, I had never done it before and I’ve only done novel writing. Play writing is very much writing your script how you want the characters to talk and you kind of leave the rest up to your designers, directors—all that stuff. So, that was a new lesson for me to take into account for the other plays I’ve written,” Juliana said.
“I also learned the opposite of ‘kill your darlings,’ which is to fight for the parts of your story that you feel need to be there. For example, when I was at Columbia University, I wrote a small play about four teenage girls and they were dealing with grief after they’ve recently lost a friend. At the climax of the play, one girl pushed another, and at Columbia, we showed our play three times. The first two times, the teacher of the program believed the push wasn’t necessary. But I felt like it needed to be in there and when I consulted my teacher about this, she was like, ‘it’s good to try and get your story across from everybody to try and help them understand why you wrote this the way it is. But if you really feel like that’s integral to your story, keep it in.’ As someone who does want everyone to kind of enjoy the stories I’m creating, I want to kind of please everyone—but you can’t please everyone. That’s something I’ve really learned and taken into account,” Juliana said.
“But overall, I think ‘just write’ is like the best piece of advice I’ve been given because I’m a very busy person so I usually don’t have the time to write. But when I’m bored, I always think of what my teachers said, ‘a writer writes, even if that’s five minutes a day.’ So I think that’s something I always try to remember. Even if it’s two sentences, at least your writing; That definitely makes me feel more accomplished,” Julianna added.
Some recent roles Juliana has stepped into include acting as Greta Olhsson in Murder in the Orient Express, Fletcher in Freaky Friday, Annie in Annie Jr., and Kurt in The Sound of Music. While also, her years of performance experience, formal training in writing, and hands-on directing work have prepared her to collaboratively create and lead this summer’s production in tandem with her three classmates. Together, with her classmates leading, the Summer Theatre Program will show other kids the power of both artistic vision and mentorship.
Juliana’s not only the play director, but she’s also practically a coach and mentor for these 9-14 year old kids that are courageous enough to test themselves at such an early age.
“I think the best advice that I could give to someone who's new to theatre and it’s their first time performing—is that—you’ve put in the work and you’re ready for this performance. I’ve seen kids who when they auditioned, they were super nervous, stood still, they just kind of did it and wanted it to be completely done with. And now, in the fifth week of the program, they’ve opened up. They’re live on stage, they’re acting more, and are more comfortable to be there—you can see the growth in these kids. They’ve put in the work, they’ve signed up for this program so at least a part of them wanted to be there, and they really need to trust in themselves. I’ve seen them perform amazing every single time they’ve gotten on that stage. Just pretend like it’s rehearsal, and go out there and do it,” Juliana said.
Juliana feels like this theatre program is unique from other summer theater camps in the area given the fact it’s completely student-led by a group of young and talented kids.
“Of course legally, we have to have an adult in the building and teachers have done a lot to help. Some of them have built really large set pieces for us like a whole printing press, which is crazy. But, when it comes to the creative side and all of that, it’s completely student run. We have four rising seniors at Seekonk High School who have leadership roles. There’s me, the director; Vincent Lestrina is our music director who works with the kids learning harmonies and putting all that together; Our choreographer is Alexandra Shields who’s done all of the dances in Newsies and she’s taken hours to put those together working with the kids; Willow Wilcox is our stage manager, so she’s helped with some design stuff, but as we get into tech and get closer to the show, she’s gonna come in and manage all of our stage crew and just kind of make sure the show keeps flow as it should; And finally, our company photographer and production assistant is Bailey Gendreau who’s been taking touch ups, helping create things, painting things, helping all of our visions come to life, and she’s also going to be taking photos of the show to market the show,” Juliana said.
“I think it’s important because we’re all passionate about what we’re doing. Alex has been dancing for years, I love to direct, Bailey is going to be a photographer when she grows up—all of that stuff—we all want to be there. And because we’re kids, we kind of have more of a connection to the people who we are working with. Obviously not that the adults don’t understand, but you know sometimes, our oldest member—we go to school with her—so it’s like we are closer to those kids and we kind of understand them. I think when you give advice to a kid that’s not that much younger than you, they kind of take it in more, something that I’ve noticed. As opposed to someone who’s way older gives them advice, sometimes it’s like, ‘well, do you really know what I’m going through?’ But we do, and I think they definitely take that. I think it’s important that not only are we gaining more experience by doing this, we’re also helping the kids gain more experience and they’re really taking it all in working with us,” Juliana said.
Furthemore, as a 17-year-old kid, Juliana mentioned that there’s really only one difficult aspect of running and leading a summer theatre program, and that is her inexperience.
“I’ve only directed one full-length project and that was the story I wrote for the fall play at Seekonk High School. So, I haven’t done a ton of directing. But, the way I’ve learned to combat that is that I’m not leading alone. I have Vinny, Alex, Bailey, and Willow, and all the other people who are willing to help me. So, I feel like not having all the pressure on my shoulders is definitely helpful, and because this is the first year of the program, I don’t feel as pressured to be completely perfect. I think as I go, I learn more about how I direct and how the kids react to certain things, and I’m able to gain more experience which is super helpful,” Julianna said.
“Luckily, my family has kind of gotten me to believe anything is possible. There's always a way. So I’ve gotten pretty good at problem solving—that’s a skill that’s helped me a ton in directing, especially a show that is as long and has all these different aspects as Newsies. My problem solving skills definitely help me combat that inexperience,” Julianna mentioned.
In essence, the Summer Theatre Program lets others truly discover the magic of the stage. Juliana, along with her friends and classmates, have designed the program to give students ages 9-14 all around MA and RI a higher-level theater experience than they might receive during the regular school year, or had even maybe thought about doing before. The goal is to provide comprehensive training in acting, singing, and dancing while also exposing students to the broader creative process behind a production. Juliana wants participants to leave with stronger performance skills, greater confidence, and a deeper understanding of how theater works as a whole. This opportunity for young kids is designed to go beyond a typical school theater experience. Students will receive intensive, higher-level instruction in acting, singing, and dancing, with focused skill development alongside preparing for a performance. In addition to rehearsing the show, participants will learn about the collaborative and creative process behind mounting a full production. There’s so much that goes into creating a show beyond just what people see with the acting, and the Summer Theatre Program participants will get to have a hand in it all.
The Newsies Jr.’s production dates, registration/contact, and other details are below:
Production Details
Program Schedule
Program Activities
Full scale understanding of theater production from casting to closing curtain; all student led and directed. Students will gain first-hand knowledge and hands-on experience in:
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