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28 June 2026 | BeaufortLifestyle.comF or nearly two decades, the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute has helped make the Lowcountry a summer destination for ambitious, professional-caliber musical theatre. Known to many simply as SSTI, the program has built a national reputation for pairing talented young performers and technicians with working Broadway artists, designers, musicians, and theatre professionals to create full-scale productions that feel far beyond the expectations of a typical summer student program. This season, SSTI is bringing that experience across the river. For its 19th season, the organization will present its full summer lineup at Beaufort High School while construction continues at its longtime Hilton Head Island venue. The temporary move %u201cNorth of the Broad%u201d gives audiences in Beaufort, Port Royal, Lady%u2019s Island, Fripp Island, St. Helena, and the surrounding Sea Islands a rare opportunity to experience SSTI%u2019s nationally recognized productions close to home. The season opens with All Shook Up, a high-energy musical comedy inspired by the music of Elvis Presley. Set in a quiet 1950s town turned upside down by the arrival of a guitar-playing stranger, the show follows a colorful cast of characters as they discover love, identity, and the courage to follow their hearts. Filled with romance, laughter, and rock-and-roll spirit, All Shook Up features some of Presley%u2019s most beloved hits, including %u201cJailhouse Rock,%u201d %u201cCan%u2019t Help Falling in Love,%u201d and the title anthem %u201cAll Shook Up.%u201d At the helm of the production is Broadway%u2019s Jelani Remy, whose credits include Ain%u2019t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, The Lion King, and Back to the Future. %u201cWe%u2019re thrilled to have Jelani returning to lead this production,%u201d says SSTI founder Ben Wolfe. %u201cHe has the ability to bring an entire community together with his kindness and collaborative spirit. What better person to lead SSTI into our next chapter in Beaufort?%u201d That next chapter is part of a much larger story. What began as a class project for Wolfe during his sophomore year of college has grown into one of the country%u2019s most ambitious theatre training programs. Today, SSTI operates as both a producing company and a training ground, bringing together emerging artists and seasoned professionals from across the United States to create musicals on a scale more often associated with major regional theatre. Each summer, SSTI mounts two fully staged productions complete with a New Yorkbased orchestra, large scenic builds, custom costumes, and a full technical operation. More than 40 working professionals travel to the Lowcountry to lead the work, including directors, designers, electricians, carpenters, musicians, and faculty from many of the nation%u2019s leading theatre programs. They work alongside a highly selective company of high school and rising college performers and technicians from across the country. The result often surprises first-time audience members. %u201cI love talking to audience members at intermission who perhaps arrived skeptical, and maybe even a little scarred from sitting through a typical %u2018high school musical,%u2019%u201d Wolfe says. %u201cTheir jaws are on the floor.%u201d Wolfe often compares the experience to the world of sports. %u201cAttending an SSTI show is like going to a minor league baseball game,%u201d he says. %u201cYou%u2019re watching the future of the art form on our stage.%u201d That description is fitting. SSTI has often been called %u201cthe minor leagues of Broadway,%u201d and its alumni can now be found working on stages and screens around the world. Performers from recent SSTI productions have gone on to appear in major professional productions, including the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical SSTI Opens Its 19th Season in Beaufort with All Shook UpBroadway%u2019s Jelani Remy directs the Elvis-inspired musical comedy as Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute brings its 2026 season %u201cNorth of the Broad.%u201dSSTI All Shook Up Director, Jelani RemyLocal actor Beau Backus in 9 to 5 at SSTI 2025