Last weekend, Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School’s Theater Arts Program, aka TAPs, sent its student musical theater troupe to the prestigious international Junior Theater Festival West, in Sacramento. There, the kids competed with other troupes from all over the country and beyond, performing numbers from its fall 2025 production of “Oliver, Jr!”
According to parent Andy Shrader, who went along, the vast majority of the participating Petaluma actors and singers came away with awards and recognition.
Three students (Cash Evans-Reber, Echo Ciampi and Macaulay Esser) were chosen as Junior Theater 2026 Performance All-Stars from Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School hold their trophy high after winning several awards at the Junior Theater Festival West in Sacramento. (Andy Shrader)
Kailey Nettleton (who played Nancy) with the medal awarded at the Junior Theater Festival West, in Sacramento last weekend. (Andy Shrader)
The trophy won by students of Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School, last weekend at the Junior Theater Festival West in Sacramento. (Andy Shrader)
Students from Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School won several awards at the Junior Theater Festival West in Sacramento. (Andy Shrader)
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Three students (Cash Evans-Reber, Echo Ciampi and Macaulay Esser) were chosen as Junior Theater 2026 Performance All-Stars from Mary Collins at Cherry Valley School hold their trophy high after winning several awards at the Junior Theater Festival West in Sacramento. (Andy Shrader)
The entire Cherry Valley cast won what Shrader describes as a “gigantic” trophy for “Excellence in Acting.” Kailey Nettleton, who played Nancy in the musical, won a medal for “Outstanding Performance by an Individual,” while Cash Evans-Reber, who played Oliver, Echo Ciampi, playing the Artful Dodger, and Macaulay Esser, also playing the Artful Dodger, were named among this year’s crop of Junior Theater Festival Performance All-Stars.
Adding even more to the excitement of the weekend, Evans-Reber was offered a “call-back audition,” with a chance to perform with the Junior Theater Group ensemble in New York City.
During the big weekend in Sacramento, the local troupe performed a number of songs from their “Oliver, Jr!” production, showcasing not just the lead actors but the school’s large ensemble as well. Experienced Broadway professionals were among the judges as the Petaluma kids performed “Consider Yourself,” “Pick a Pocket or Two,” “It’s a Fine Life,” and “Oom-Pah-Pah.” The Petaluma program’s tech crew, led by Kayla Seiller, had a chance to show off as well, making a strong showing in the weekend’s “Tech Olympics” competition.
“Oliver, Jr.” – which became something of a sensation last year, selling out several performances and even drawing community theatergoers from outside the Cherry Valley school community – was directed by Petaluma’s Darby Ciampi, was produced by Lindsey Nettleton and was choreographed by Allissa Dolcini.
The Junior Theater Festival West annually brings student musical theater troupes together from across the country, and even internationally, for what Shrader described as “a weekend of musical theater mayhem and madness.” All of the visiting school troupes are given an opportunity to present 15 minutes from any Broadway Jr. show – a series of classic musicals that are condensed and contained for use as school shows – with the students’ performing for an adjudication panel made up of musical theater experts from around the country.
During the weekend. teachers could participate in professional development workshops, students and parents we able to take specially designed classes, and everyone was invited to sit in on a New Works Showcase, which regularly features the latest upcoming Broadway Jr. musical adaptations.
Every year, the weekend ends with a big, lavish “finale concert” headlined by a Broadway’s legend. This year, Shrader reported, the guest performer was Michael James Scott, best known as the longest-running Genie in Disney’s “Aladdin” musical, currently still being staged on Broadway.