Journey to JTF: Send UMT to Atlanta

The journey begins in New Orleans. The stage is national.

This January, young performers from Uptown Music Theatre (UMT) will travel from New Orleans to Atlanta to participate in the Junior Theater Festival (JTF), where they will perform, learn, connect, and experience musical theatre alongside young artists from across the country.

For our students, this is about much more than a trip.

At UMT, theatre is a place where young people discover their voices, build confidence, develop discipline, work as a team, and experience the power of belonging. JTF gives them an opportunity to take what they have been developing here in New Orleans and step onto a national stage.

But opportunity has a cost, and we don't want a family's ability to pay to determine whether a young person gets to participate.

Our Goal: $60,000

UMT is launching Journey to JTF: Send UMT to Atlanta to raise $60,000 to help make this experience possible for our young performers.

The cost of participating goes far beyond festival registration. Funds raised through this campaign will help support festival fees, transportation to Atlanta, lodging, wardrobe and production needs, rehearsals, instructors, studio space, and other expenses associated with preparing our students for JTF.

And we're approaching fundraising the same way we approach theatre: as an ensemble.

Participating families will have individual fundraising pages where they can share their young performer's story and invite relatives, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and others who believe in them to become part of their Journey to JTF.

At the same time, UMT will activate its larger village of alumni, past and current families, community partners, businesses, sponsors, and friends of the organization.

Families activate their village. UMT activates ours. Together, we get these young people to Atlanta.

Join the Journey

Every gift matters, and you don't have to fund an entire trip to make a difference.

🎭 $25 | Curtain Raiser
Help get the journey started.

🌟 $50 | Rising Star
Invest in a young performer's opportunity.

🎬 $100 | Leading Role
Help move our students closer to Atlanta.

👏 $250 | Standing Ovation
Make a significant investment in the Journey to JTF.

🎟️ $500+ | Producer's Circle
Help UMT expand access to this opportunity for young performers.

You can also choose a specific student and support their individual Journey to JTF page, become a campaign sponsor, or simply share this campaign with your network.

This Is What Your Gift Makes Possible

When you support Journey to JTF, you aren't simply helping pay for a trip.

You're investing in a young person.

You're helping a student stand on a bigger stage, learn from theatre professionals, meet young artists from other communities, represent New Orleans, and see possibilities for themselves that they may not have imagined before.

And we want our village to experience that journey with them.

Over the coming months, we'll introduce you to our young performers, share rehearsal moments, celebrate fundraising milestones, and take you behind the scenes as UMT prepares for Atlanta.

Then, when our young people step onto that JTF stage, they'll know they didn't get there alone.

A whole village helped send them.

Same young people. Bigger stage. Brighter futures.

Join us on the Journey to JTF and help send Uptown Music Theatre to Atlanta. 🎭🌟

Journey to JTF: Send UMT to Atlanta

The journey begins in New Orleans. The stage is national.

Meet Our Young Performers