Lombard Children’s Theater Workshop was founded in 2012 by Johannna McKenzie Miller and Kristin Aasmundstad Walsh. With respective experience in musical theater (Johanna) and arts marketing (Kristin), the two began discussing Johanna’s idea of launching a summer workshop in Lombard for kids focused on the creative process and building their own theater production. Blending their skills and passions, Johanna and Kristin launched a week-long summer workshop in 2012, offered to the children of friends and neighbors as a trial experience. The positive feedback from both parents and children confirmed their instinct to expand.
We have offered a one-week camp every summer (minus 2020 due to the pandemic) for students who have completed Kindergarten through 8th grade, led by various teaching artists—professional actors in the Chicago area. This year (2023), Johanna’s in-demand schedule as a professional theater director prevented us from offering a summer session. Instead, we offered a Fall Mini-Workshop, October 11-November 1, 2023, Monday evenings 6- 7 pm, for students Grades 1-5. The show, Lost and Found, was presented by the students November 1 to parents and other guests. We were excited to see that this workshop format worked well, and look forward to our next opportunity to offer students a creative space to collaborate with their peers to write a play, rehearse it, and perform it.