We are excited to announce that ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is the title for our next Summer Youth Project at the Palace Theatre in Southend, for its 16th year! SYP is for young people aged between 9 and 19 with a passion for performing, or a keen eye for backstage. We take over the Palace Theatre for 2 weeks over the summer holidays where we create, rehearse, and perform 6 unforgettable performances of a well-known and loved musical to live audiences! To secure your space in this year’s production of The Wizard of Oz, you will need to apply and audition.
SYP Technical Youth Team interview slots will also be available. Please see application form and audition pack for more information on these.
We will also be hosting an SYP Audition Workshop for anybody who is new to auditioning for our project, or who feels they may benefit from this. More information and dates will be available on this page, in due course.
Participants and their parents/carers are required to fill in the application form and look through our audition pack, prior to attending our audition on Wednesday 16 April 2025. You can download the audition pack, with the application form below: The Wizard of Oz Audition Pack
Our project dates for SYP 2025 will be Sunday 27 July 2025 - Sunday 10 August 2025, at the Palace Theatre. Our live performances of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ will take place from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 August 2025, involving both matinee and evening performances. Tickets for these performances will go on sale in the coming weeks.We would love to have you join us at our Summer Youth Project auditions. If you have any further questions that are not answered in our audition pack, please do not hesitate to contact Emma, our Project Producer and Creative Learning Manager on We are delighted that Auburn Group - the main contractor on the Cliffs Pavilion refurbishment project have agreed to sponsor the 2025 Summer Youth Project at the Palace Theatre. Testimonials:
“Summer Youth is an amazing company to be a part of as we are all one big family. My life wouldn’t be the same without it!” Eve – Summer Youth Project Participant.
“Creatives crew and staff work very hard at including and highlighting everyone. We Loved High School Musical in 2022 - it was the best SYP yet!" - Participant and Parent of the Summer Youth Project 2023
"Bursary scheme fantastic making it means tested so those on benefits can afford to participate" - SYP 2023 Participant