Theatre programs in High Schools (Manchester, Derry: theater, middle school, college)

[Tahma]

Hello NH folk! My family will soon be moving to your snowy shire, having left Dallas, and the opportunity for my theatre bug daughter to attend a performing arts high school there.

We are considering the following schools:


Londonderry HS
Pinkerton Academy
Salem HS

Any theatre parents with info on the programs there? My daughter has been acting since she was five, loves musical theatre and is generally bummed that she can't attend the HS in Dallas, though she is excited that Yale is close by when she wants to attend college for her theatre degree.

Thanks for any insight.

Tahma

[samma]

Pinkerton in my opinion is a more sports based school. All their teams are amazing and that is all you ever hear about them. I have a friend who is very into acting and singing and she goes to Williston NorthHampton in Mass and LOVES it.

[buck naked]

Pinkerton does have a brand new theatre building - however, they are a private school and not too easy to get into if you do not live in Derry - there are limited spaces available.

I would check with each school individually. Manchester, although it has many schools, does not have a theater program. In fact, Manchester's Memorial HS stage is declared "unfit/unsafe for use"and is scheduled for replacement whenever they get the money. That is one of the newer schools, it was built in the early '60's.

good luck finding a school that will fit your needs - you may be better off looking towards the seacoast or north shore of MA.

[Valerie C]

Tahma may already be aware of this, but for anyone else who may be interested, Chester and Hampstead are still tuitioning their high school students to Pinkerton Academy. Both Hampstead and Chester are quite a bit more rural than Derry, and have their own elementary & middle school programs. The Arts & Humanities Building at Pinkerton was completed in 2002, and it's just beautiful.