Rise Musical Theatre
Rise Musical Theatre
Spring 2025 Shows
Disney’s Descendants: The Musical
Ages 6-9
- Tuesdays 4pm-6:30pm
- January 14 – March 30
Ages 10+
- Tuesdays 5pm-6:30pm & Thursdays 5pm-7:30pm
- January 14 – March 30
Concludes with a 60-minute performance
Get to know the show by listening to its songs and reading the summary below
Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, Disney’s Descendants: The Musical is a brand-new musical jam-packed with comedy, adventure, Disney characters, and hit songs from the films!
Imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost – home of the most infamous villains who ever lived – the teenaged children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil have never ventured off the island… until now.
When the four troublemakers are sent to attend prep school alongside the children of beloved Disney heroes, they have a difficult choice to make: should they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good?
Seussical JR
Ages 7-9
- Mondays 4pm-6:30pm
- March 24 – May 25
Ages 10+
- Tuesdays 6pm-7:30pm & Thursdays 5pm-7:30pm
- April 1 – June 1
Concludes with a 60-minute performance
Get to know the show by listening to its songs and reading the summary below
Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in Seussical JR
Transporting audiences from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers; he must also guard an abandoned egg that’s been left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him.
Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant!
Spring 2025 Masterclasses
Our 4-week Masterclasses are for musical theatre students ages 13-17 years old looking to work on repertoire selections from Legally Blonde JR & Dear Evan Hansen.
Click the button below to learn more about each of these masterclasses.
Spring 2025 Audition Workshop
This 4-week Audition Workshop is for students 9+ years old who’d like to gain valuable, practical skills that can be immediately implemented at their next audition!
Click the button below to learn more about each of this workshop.
Homeschool Acting Classes
We are proud to offer acting classes to help homeschool students improve their acting skills and technique!
Our Homeschool Mini Play Acting Series for students ages 7-12 provides essential acting technique training with immediate application in a 10-minute mini play to conclude the 6-week class.
- Peter Pan & The Lost Girl (Quarter 3)
- The Sleepy Bear (Quarter 4)
Click the button below to learn more about these homeschool acting classes this semester.
Private Acting Lessons
For students looking to truly hone their acting skills, we provide one-on-one acting lessons with our Theatre Program Director, Shenyse Harris.
Shenyse is a Houston, New York-based actress, acting coach, and producer. She holds a master’s degree in Acting from Brown University and has been working professionally in New York and Atlanta since 2018.
Some of her credits include CBS Blue Bloods, Verizon, Dallas Theatre Center, Trinity Repertory, Virginia Stage Company.
Private acting lessons allow students to further develop their technique and see much quicker improvement, especially when focusing on specific areas of their craft. Lessons are offered on a semester-basis and meet weekly.
Musical Theatre Summer Camps
The 2-week intensive features a studio-style production with minimal props and set pieces, serving to push students to take ownership of their creativity and tap into their full storytelling abilities.
This camp is particularly suited for students looking to level up their skills with a fun and exciting challenge this summer.
Our Instructors
Shenyse LeAnna Harris
Shenyse LeAnna Harris is the Director of Theatre at RISE. She is a Houston, New York-based actress, acting coach, and producer. She holds a master’s degree in Acting from Brown University and has been working professionally in New York, and Atlanta since 2018. Shenyse’s acting journey began in Alief ISD. There she learned how vital it is to have art education and equity in black and brown communities. This ignited her passion/mission for theatre education, talent cultivation, and the creation of SLProductions LLC; a multifaceted production company that serves its community through the ministry of theater, film/television, and arts education.
Some of her credits include CBS Blue Bloods, Verizon, Dallas Theatre Center, Trinity Repertory, Virginia Stage Company. Shenyse is very excited to work with the RISE family and is excited to see what we can create together as a community.
Emmy Carys Harkay
Emmy is the Assistant Director of Theatre at RISE. After discovering her love for performing at a very young age, Emmy started performing in fully produced musicals at 9 years old with various theaters all over Houston and started in pre-professional training at Theatre Under the Stars soon after. For the majority of her high school years, Emmy committed full-time to her musical theatre training and completed academic schooling through a homeschool Dual Credit program, obtaining her Associate’s of Arts degree at 17 years old. She then went on to pursue and obtain her BFA in Musical Theatre at Sam Houston State University.
Over the years, Emmy developed an appreciation and passion for directing and teaching, leading her down a path of passing her training and experiences on to the next generation of talent. She is so thrilled that this path led her to the RISE family and is so excited to continue making magic onstage!
Emily Buesing
Since graduating in 2020 with a degree in Theatre and Dance from Lamar University, Emily Buesing has had the opportunity to work in theatre in multiple capacities. Primarily an actress, some of her favorite performance credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Cecily), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Judy), Luna Gale (Cindy), The Birds (Julia), and most recently, her role as Frau Hilda in The Garden Theatre’s workshop production of While Childhood Slept.
Emily has also had the pleasure of working as choreographer, assistant director, and teaching artist with multiple children’s theatre companies including LiFT, Beaumont Community Players Kidmunity, and AD Players education department.
In the classroom Emily is a compassionate and dedicated teacher that aids in bringing the creative ideas of students to life!
Lauren Orsak
Lauren Orsak is twenty years into a deep love connection with story telling and the stage! Lauren started her work at the age of six, and continued to grow her craft through high school as a student performer with the A.D. Players Academy. Lauren attended and received her BFA in Theatre with an emphasis on Acting/Directing from Sam Houston State, and has had the privilege of working as an arts instructor and actor for the A.D. Players since graduating. A few of her most valued credits include Cinderella (R&H Cinderella), Alice Beineke (The Addams Family), and Judy Hanes (White Christmas).
Lauren draws on her lifelong love of theatre and on-stage experience to teach the next generation of theatre students!
Our Facilities
We offer 3 spacious studios for our musical theatre students to learn and prepare for productions:
- Studio A is 1,500 sq. ft.
- Studio B is 1,200 sq. ft.
- Studio C is 600 sq. ft.
All of our studios feature high ceilings, mirrored walls, and in-wall speaker systems. Studios A & B are separated by a floor-to-ceiling acoustical floating partition that allows the studios to open up into one large performance space for in-house productions complete with theatre curtains and premier theatre lighting.
Studio C is a smaller, fully-mirrored space ideal for our acting classes.
Teaching Methodology
We offer introductory Musical Theatre classes for beginners that teach the foundations of Musical Theatre and beginner terminology. We also offer production classes that give students valuable experience performing on the stage.
Additionally, RISE offers various levels of Acting classes from beginner-level to advanced for students looking to learn practical skills that can immediately improve their performance techniques.