The Drama Studio was founded in 1987 by Steve Hays and a group of educators and parents who envisioned an institution where youth could study acting as seriously as they could study music, supported by a carefully designed curriculum, productions of quality scripts, and a strong scholarship program to ensure opportunity for all. The term “conservatory-style” was used to describe a two-part process: first, a series of acting classes, offered sequentially from introductory to advanced levels, that would permit acting students to grow in their craft over a period of years, and second, a series of production opportunities that would allow students to audition, rehearse and perform at the same level of quality operating in the classroom. We have now added a third part to our approach: community and educational outreach. This outreach, in the form of field trips, touring productions, literacy workshops and residency programs is vital to our mission because it makes our program even more accessible to all local young people.

Our mission is to enrich and validate the adolescent experience in our diverse community via excellence in a conservatory-style acting training program. The Drama Studio is a unique community, where young people come to grow as artists, leaders and individuals, where 'the stage is yours.'