TEAMS for CPT 2023/2024:

Time COMMITMENT

All CPT members are required to commit a minimum to their grade level group training class (1 or 1.5 hours), one dance class (1 hour), and one 30-minute vocal class at the studio every week (2.5-3 hours total). If you are doing Extra Work (solo, duo, trio, small, or select groups) you are required to have a minimum of 5 training hours at the studio each week. All CPT classes run from September to the end of May.

Required in these 5 hours of training if you are doing extra work are your grade level group team, one vocal class or private vocal lesson, one dance class, and one community class (Young Professionals Audition Class is highly recommended!). Please make sure when signing up that your performer meets the 5-hour minimum requirement.

CPT Production/JTF class on Thursday is optional. This will be our production number that not only goes to competitions but will also be our Junior Theatre Festival class. If you are committing to being a part of our Production/JTF group you will be making a commitment to travel to Sacramento, California February 9-11th 2024 for the festival with our JTF team. This group will meet on Thursday for 1.5 hours and be creating a piece to take to competitions as well as a piece to take to the Junior Theatre Festival to compete.

Here is more information on JTF: https://juniortheaterfestival.com/what-we-do/

Getting hours can be achieved easily through the CPT classes, any of our community classes and any private lessons or our Full-Scale Musical Production class. These classes will start the week of September 5th and run through June. Extra work on Friday and Saturday will run through May 31st. No extra work on Labor Day weekend!

It is a requirement that all CPT members participate in one of our Summer Stock productions over the summer. This keeps the kids continued training throughout summer with a full-scale production challenging and improving their vocals, acting and stage presence as well as dancing and movement.

Competitions

Our competitions will be between January and May and there will be four competitions. The Junior Theatre Festival is an OPTIONAL competition to attend. Three of these competitions will be regional comps. The fourth competition will be our Big Star hosted In House Competition. We are traveling to Portland Oregon for the 23/24 season as well as Sacramento, CA if you are a part of JTF. Most of these competitions take up most of the weekend. It is expected that performers are available Fri, Sat and Sunday of comp weekends. Occasionally there are comps that kids perform on a Thursday evening. In most cases these will be the oldest kids on the team. We will do our best to get the schedule to you asap, but it is often that we do not get it until 7-14 days before the competition.

attendance

This is a very important part of being on CPT. Attendance is mandatory. While we understand that things do happen – someone gets hurt or sick, family emergencies – we expect that CPT is given high priority. When one person is not there, the entire team suffers. When performers are not in class, they are not progressing in the routine and other students are also not learning the correct routine because formations, vocals and staging are negatively impacted when one person is missing. This requires extra time from our teachers to re-teach parts, making sure nothing is out of sync and everyone has the ability to give their very best performance. If you are unable to make it to class, it will be expected that you Zoom in for class assuming you are well enough to do so.

Attendance Policy:

• If you are going to be absent for any reason you are required to fill out the Absence Form. CPT students should report all absences, including any community class they are enrolled in, on the absence form.
• If you are notifying the studio ‘day-of’ for any absence, tardiness or early dismissal you are also required to text Jessica at 206-531-3829.
• You are allowed one unexcused absence per 12 week session. If you exceed this allowance you may have solos and/or features reassigned to other students at the discretion of the instructor and studio staff.
• Please stay home if you are experiencing fever, vomiting, diarrhea, have an excessive cough or are contagious.
• If you are unable to attend class, it will be expected that you Zoom in for class assuming you are well enough to do so. NOTE: Students should notify their teacher to arrange Zooming into class.
• If an injury is preventing you from participating in class, you will still be expected to attend class to watch so you don’t fall behind.
• Any absences that take place 2 weeks prior to any performance/competition may result in a student not being allowed to participate in the performance/competition and/or solos/features being reassigned at the discretion of the instructor and studio staff. This is regardless if the absence is considered excused.
• Frequent absences may result in a student being pulled from a routine. Excessive absences may result in a student being removed from the team, and no refunds will be made to the family.
• Frequent absences from required technique classes (singing and dancing) may also result in solos or features being pulled from CPT routines.

Excused Absences Include:

• Illness
• School Related Requirements
• Pre-Planned Family Vacation where the staff is notified well in advance

CPT MEMBER CLASS REQUIREMENTS:

Each team member is required to take 3 hours of training to be on CPT (except Minis!). If you are doing extra work (info sent out on June 21st) you are required to take 5 hours of training. All your hours offered above count, if you choose to accept them, towards this requirement, as well any of our other classes on the 2023/2024 class schedule.

Grade Group: All CPT students are required to participate in their grade group team. Each grade group team will focus on two different routines to perform at competitions. This year we have five grade group teams, as follows:

• Minis: PreK-K
• Juniors: 1st grade – 4th grade
• Pre-Teens: 5th grade – 6th grade
• Teens: 7th grade – 9th grade
• Seniors: 10th grade – 12th grade

Grade Group Vocal Class: All CPT students (except Minis!) are required to participate in their grade group vocal class, as assigned. These classes will focus on vocal technique, vocal theory, blending as a group, holding harmony, and vocal health.
Note: If you are studying private voice at Big Star, this requirement is waived.

Dance Class: All CPT students (except Minis!) are required to take a dance class. This year we are placing a heavy focus on jazz classes and highly encourage you to enroll in the jazz dance class you have been assigned to. If you are not able to join the jazz class, you can choose to take a Hip Hop or Tap class to meet the dance class requirement. Please contact Jessica if you have any questions regarding placement.

EXTRA WORK CLASSES

Extra Work is a solo, duo, trio or small group. All extra work is OPTIONAL. If you are chosen to participate in a Solo, Duo, Trio or Small Group please plan to be charged your choreography fee on September 5th. Once your time slot is arranged that will be your time slot for the comp season Sept-May. If you are unable to rehearse during a scheduled time you need to provide 24 hours’ notice. We will not be able to do make-up for students due to missed lessons. The way the schedule is being done for solos, duos and trios does not accommodate make ups. If it is a competition weekend rehearsal will not be held on Friday and Saturdays for solos, duos and trios because teachers and students will be attending competitions. We will not do make ups on these weekends as students will be running and working their solos, duos, trios all weekend. If it is a Big Star Showcase weekend the Saturday schedule will be held on Sunday that weekend only. The Dates that the extra work will be held on Sunday, December 3rd and March 10th! Please mark your calendar now. Extra work will start the week of September 5th and run through May 2024!

IMPORTANT DATES to get ON YOUR CALENDAR for 2024

• In-House Competition Jan 13th 2024 Carco Theatre, Renton Wa
• Access Broadway Las Vegas: January 26-28th 2024
• Production of Fall/Winter Musical: Feb 3rd 2024 TBD waiting on theatre space
• JTF Junior Theatre Festival Sacramento CA: Feb 9-11th 2024 (optional). Extra Work takes place on Sunday March 10th (Studio being used for Winter  Showcase on Saturday, March 9th)
• Celebrity Seattle: March 22-24th 2024
• On Stage New York Portland OR: May 3-5th 2024
• CPT & Summer Stock Auditions (Big Star Studios): Saturday, May 11th 2024
• Spotlight Seattle: May 17-19th 2024
• Summer Stock Call Backs (Big Star Studios): June 1st & 2nd 2024
• Production of Spring Musical: Saturday, June 15th 2024 TBD waiting on theatre
• Big Star Spring Showcase: Saturday, June 22nd 2024 TBD waiting on theatre
• Summer Stock Begins: Monday, June 24th
• Summerstock Lock In: Aug 17th & 18th 2024
• Summer Stock Performance: Friday, August 24th, 25th & 26th 2024 TBD waiting on  theatre space

COSTS

There are many costs associated with being on CPT. It can be very expensive. It can also be reasonable depending on what you want to do for the season. At a minimum you have to take your age group ($100-$140), a dance class ($100) and a vocal class ($65) this is a minimum monthly total of $265-$305. I am listing the MINIMUM next to each fee so that you can see the base starting costs of team. It can obviously go up if you add more classes, more extra work, etc.

• Competition Fees ($180 x 3 required comps this is based on 2023 pricing)
• Monthly Tuition ($265-$305 age group, dance, vocal)
• Costumes (2 routines one-time fee approx. $150)
• Choreography Fee (2 groups one-time fee $100)
• Travel Expenses (hotel in Portland/gas/food)
• Coaches Travel Fee (one-time fee of $400 or spread out in 4 installments)
• In-House Comp Fee ($250)

COMPETITION FEE PAYMENT SCHEDULE

• Choreography Fee: Due Sept 5th
• Spotlight Comp Fee: Due December 5th 
• In-House Comp Fee: Due January 5th
• Celebrity Comp Fee: Due February 5th
• On Stage Comp Fee: Due March 5th
• Coaches Fee to be split over 4 payments Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar along with competition fees. Can be made in one-time payment anytime if you prefer. 
• JTF Junior Theatre Festival: Due in November

MONTHLY TUITION FEES

• $135 for .5 hours (solos) optional
• $95 for .5 hours (duos/trios) optional
• $65 for .5-hour group class (vocal) required
• $100 for 1.0 hour (group classes) dance/age group required
• $140 for 1.5-hour (group classes) age group required

Unlimited 6+ Class Hours (does not include solos or private lessons)

• 1 child $640
• 2+ children $770

CHOREOGRAPHY FEE

For every Solo, Duo, Trio, and group number there is a one-time choreography fee. This is a fee that covers the teacher’s time to choose the piece, pick and cut the music and track, often teachers may create the track just for that student, choreograph the piece, costume the piece, and coordinate the scheduling of the piece. Choreography fees will be due on September 5th and will be charged only one time for the season.
 

• SOLO – $175
• DUO – $95
• TRIO – $70
• GROUPS – $50

COSTUME FEES

Every competitive routine your child is in will require a costume. Once our instructors have picked the costumes for the pieces your child is in, you will be sent the links to purchase these pieces. If you can shop around and save money, that is fine and is left up to your discretion as long as the pieces the instructor has requested are purchased and brought in on the costume due date. In some cases, you will be able to look around on different sites for costume pieces but there will often be times you will have to purchase exactly what is provided in the costume link that is sent. This is often the case with a Solo, Duo and Trio costume where all the performers are in the exact same thing. There are also some cases where parents may have to reimburse Big Star for costumes that need to be ordered from sites that require studio licensing to order.