MILLERSTOWN — For Jacqueline Malocu, theatre began as a college job and returned years later as something far more powerful — a calling that would shape her family, her career and now a new educational program launching this summer.

Malocu, known to her students as “Mrs. M,” is the director of the East Juniata High School Theatre Program. She stepped into the role after co-directing the school’s 2022 production of “The Addams Family,” but her connection to the stage stretches back much further.

She first discovered backstage theatre in college, working as a dresser in the wardrobe department at the Hershey Theatre. The experience gave her an early glimpse into the energy and precision that fuel live performance. Then life moved on, and theatre slipped quietly into the background.

It returned in 2010, when her junior-high-aged son joined a community theater production. Wanting to support him without hovering, Malocu volunteered to help with hair and makeup — her professional trade — and found herself pulled back into the world she once loved. She learned from seasoned directors and technicians across central Pennsylvania, absorbing the rhythms of backstage life and the emotional arc that comes with every show.

As the years went on, all four of her children performed and the family experienced the full sweep of theater together: auditions, hopes, casting, tears, exhilaration, rehearsals, car rides, performances and awards. In 2022, Malocu stepped into the director’s chair herself.

“I have had the rare privileges of creating designs, teaching others, directing my youngest daughter, and working alongside all of my children as they have filled the capacity of production members on my team,” she said. “What a gift.”

For Malocu, being a theater mom reshaped her understanding of the art form and the community around it.

“That’s what being a theater mom does,” she said. “It makes you realize theatre has a culture of community that is hard to beat. It reveals opportunities for students to learn technical, practical, and relational attributes that cultivate skills for a healthy, balanced, and well-adjusted life. It shapes you in ways you don’t realize until one day you know, ‘the best parts of who I am and who I aspire to become, I owe to my children.'”

She credits her husband’s support and the passion her children developed for the stage as the inspiration behind her newest project: Dream Team Theatre School, a summer program designed to give students meaningful opportunities to grow in both performance and production.

“I am on a journey that is more complex, more challenging, and much more meaningful than I ever thought possible because of the unwavering support of my husband, and love of the stage that lives in the hearts of our four remarkable theatre kids,” Malocu shared. “That is the inspiration behind Dream Team Theatre School — a passion that none of us really knew we had until we lived it.”

A new theater education program for local students

Dream Team Theatre School launches this summer with a mission to help students build confidence and mastery in theatre arts. The program is not district-affiliated, but Malocu hopes it will support East Juniata’s theater program and surrounding schools by offering high-quality instruction in acting, voice, dance and technical theatre.

The school is built on six core values: joyful connection, sincere encouragement, impactful creativity, experiential education, mastery and professionalism and stewardship.

Summer intensives — July

Intensive Sessions in dance, voice and acting will be held every Tuesday in July, with class times based on student selections. A showcase performance will take place on Thursday, July 30. Registration deadline: Friday, June 19.

Theatre camps — August

Two week-long camps will follow:

Elementary camp (rising third- to eighth-graders)

9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 3-7

Performances midday on Saturday, Aug. 8

High School camp (rising eighth- to 12th-graders)

9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 10-14

Performances later in the day on Friday, August 14

Registration deadline: Friday, July 10.

Programs are open to rising third- to 12th graders for the 2026-27 school year in Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder, Perry and surrounding counties.

Full details and registration are available at: https://dreamteamacademie.regfox.com/theatreschool-summer

A nominal cost is associated with each program, and limited scholarships are available based on need. Families can contact Malocu via social media for more information.