Austin ISD students prepare for Summer Theatre Series performance

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin ISD theater students are getting ready to hit the stage to perform part of the Summer Theater Series performance.

The district has been hosting the annual program for a decade now and every year it gets bigger and bigger.

"It usually involves over 250 students representing 43 campuses in Austin ISD. Our goal is to get as many students as possible and make it a free experience for students," says AISD Performing Arts Director Phillip Taylor.

Over the summer, students from all over the district are able to share the stage.

"We all come together to put on this incredible show, and the students really have been working so hard on their vocals, on the choreography, on their acting skills," says AISD Summer Theatre Series Program Coordinator Christine Pozzi.

And for the 2024 performance, AISD students are performing "Shrek the Musical".

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"Shrek, he's such an iconic character that I feel like I have to do certain things in certain ways, but he's so fun to embody in that because you get the lines,  what are you doing in my swamp?," says Finn Alexander, an AISD graduate who is playing Shrek.

Taylor says this is a great opportunity for students to get out of their shell.

"I had never really done musical theater or done anything like that until I did "Mamma Mia!" here, my freshman year of high school, and now I'm doing musical theater in college. So just to have that opportunity and to have that experience I don't have at my home school is really great," says Sydney Crowe, an AISD graduate playing Fiona.

"It's really fun to see everyone's experience with theater and how we can each learn from each other and grow from it," says Audrey Nixon, an AISD senior playing Fiona.

Dreamworks just announced "Shrek 5" is coming to theaters in 2026.

If you want to catch up on the series, stop by the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center to see AISD students' performance.