ENLARGE PHOTO Courtesy photo Seven students from Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center in Merrimack were selected to participate in a workshop for young talent in New York City. The student are, front row, from left, Valerie Nigg, Alexandra DeFelice, Katelyn Walker and Lenny Ridenhour. Back row, from left, is Molly Branch, Melissa Morin, instructor Peter Sklar and Emily Ditman.

MERRIMACK - Seven local students of the Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center were recently selected to attend the Beginnings Workshop for new, young talent.

The workshop is conducted by Peter Sklar, one of America’s most celebrated authorities on the personal and professional lives of young performers and the producer of the new Broadway musical “The Kid Who Played the Palace.”

Students invited to attend the nine-day workshop include Katelyn Walker, Alexandra DeFelice, Valerie Nigg, Emily Ditman, Melissa Morin, Molly Branch and Lenny Ridenhour. The workshop concludes with a showcase before casting directors and agents at an off-Broadway theater in New York City.

The much acclaimed Beginnings Workshop has recently featured visiting faculty from the Broadway theater including prominent Tony winner Sutton Foster from “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Cabaret” star Christina Pawl, “Hairspray” actress Tracy Edwards, and Courtney Young, dance captain for the Broadway hit “The Producers.” Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center Director Jennifer DeFelice is a former protégé of Sklar and has also been invited to join the staff at the workshop.

Sklar recently came to Merrimack in search of new talent and presented a seminar at the Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center.

He is a nationally known speaker, counselor and talent scout with three decades of experience discovering and working behind the scenes with many young and prominent performers, including Sara Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon and Ricki Lake.