A Pearl River teen has been accepted into a prestigious musical theatre program in New York City.

Chrissy Bowen, 16, a high school junior and musical theatre student at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts Riverfront, auditioned in February for Collaborative Arts Project21. She received word of her acceptance into the program about a month later.

Bowen has been dancing since she was 3 years old.

Chrissy Bowen

“I guess I was always dancing and jumping around,” she said. “I never thought I would want a career in musical theatre, though.”

When she was in the sixth grade, Bowen attended her first musical theatre performance at NOCCA, a production of “Sideshow.” She thought it looked like fun, and from then on, she was hooked.

Bowen has appeared in four shows at NOCCA, the latest being “Tommy,” based on the rock opera by the Who. She also appeared in a production at Jesuit High School.

“It’s an all-boys school, and they needed some girls for the show,” said Bowen. “My teacher was directing it, so he suggested me.”

This is the first time the teenager has tried out for a summer program outside NOCCA. In addition to CAP21, she looked into programs at the University of Michigan and Interlochen, also in Michigan.

Bowen traveled to New York for her audition and was up against hundreds of students from all over the country. A series of live auditions were held on several different dates starting at the end of January, while some sent in DVDs or videotapes of their auditions. New York is considered the hub of the theatre world, and Bowen saw her first Broadway show at age 5, when her family visited an aunt living in New Jersey. Last year she traveled there with a group of theatre design students on a four-day trip.

“I just kept saying to myself, ‘WOW’,” said Bowen. “I really fell in love with it, so when this opportunity came up I jumped at the chance.”

The CAP21 conservatory was founded in 1993 in response to a need for in-depth training in musical theatre. Its mission is to train actors who sing and dance, as well as to provide performance outlets for its students. CAP21 maintains a long list of alumni who have gone on to be cast in Broadway shows, national tours and regional theatre.

Bowen’s entire family supports her career pursuits, even her older brother, who is a lieutenant with the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office. He tries not to miss a performance and often comes to pick her up from her practice sessions at Sharon Thibodaux Dance Studio, also in St. Bernard.

“He’s not the biggest fan of musical theatre, but he’s really been a big help,” Bowen said.

Bowen will attend five weeks of daily classes at CAP21, and studies will include acting, improvisation, vocal technique and dance. She said she hopes to get new ways of looking at what she’s already learning at NOCCA and to grow as a performer.

Her mother, Cyd, admits to a little anxiety about the trip, which will be the longest time her daughter has been away from home.

“Her dad is a little more nervous than I am, I think,” said Cyd. “But I know this will be really be good for her.”

Bowen maintains a 4.0 grade point average at New Orleans Charter School for Science and Math, where she attends half-day sessions before heading to NOCCA in the afternoons. In fact, she was the co-valedictorian of her eighth-grade class. In her spare time, which she admits is limited, she likes to read, having just finished “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Phillippa Gregory.

While she sometimes wonders if she will spend her entire life in musical theatre, she has never questioned “the here and now,” as she calls it.

“My first show at NOCCA was in this much smaller theatre, and the audience was right up front,” she said. “I remember thinking how I was once in their place, and how awesome it felt to be up there.”