International touring singer brings musical theater training to Park City youth

Julia Nolan performs on stage. Nolan, an international touring singer, is now teaching musical theater classes and summer camps for young performers in Park City. Photo: courtesy of Julia Nolan.

PARK CITY, Utah — Julia Nolan has performed on stages around the world, recorded for national campaigns, and spent years working in the performing arts industry.

Now her latest stage is in Park City, where she is teaching young performers how to sing, dance, act, and, perhaps most importantly, be brave.

Nolan, a professional singer and musical theater instructor who recently moved to Park City with her family, is offering Disney musical theater classes and summer camps for local children through Basin Recreation and Park City Community Church.

“My career as a professional singer really has taken me all over the world,” Nolan said. “What shaped me most, though, wasn’t any single stage or credit — it was the cumulative experience of adapting, connecting, and finding my voice in rooms and countries I never expected to find myself in. That’s exactly what I try to give my students now.”

Nolan grew up in South Florida, where she was exposed to the entertainment industry early through national commercial work, including campaigns with the New York Yankees and Kool-Aid. She trained at a performing arts high school and later studied musical theater at a conservatory in New York City.

One of the most formative chapters of her career, she said, came during nearly five years in Japan, where she recorded and toured with some of the country’s top acts.

“Immersing yourself in a completely different culture and still connecting with audiences through music teaches you something no classroom can,” Nolan said. “Music really is a universal language, and Japan proved that to me at every single show.”

Her career later took her to Las Vegas, Disney productions, cruise ships, and touring work with Sony recording artists. Nolan said she has shared the stage with performers including Earth, Wind & Fire and Lee Greenwood, and that her voice has been featured in national commercials, soundtracks, and recordings. Park City Community Church’s Summer Theatre Camp page also lists her background, including recordings, soundtracks, international touring, Las Vegas productions, Tokyo Disney, and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

One of her most recognizable credits, Nolan said, is the Maybelline campaign line, “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline.”

Nolan and her family moved west from Nashville last fall after visiting Utah while their son was looking at colleges where he could play soccer. The family quickly fell in love with Park City.

“We were all just ready for a new adventure, and there was something about Park City that just felt right for our whole family,” Nolan said.

What surprised her most, she said, was not the mountains or outdoor culture but the depth of local artistic talent.

“This community has real artistic depth that I don’t think gets enough recognition,” Nolan said. “That discovery completely energized the way I teach. I want the kids I work with here to grow up knowing that world-class artistry doesn’t only happen in New York or L.A. It can start right here in the mountains.”

Nolan’s new programs draw on Disney music and musical theater, which she said offer an accessible entry point for young performers. Disney was a formative part of her youth in Florida, and later performing in Disney productions made the connection even more personal.

“There’s nothing quite like it for young performers,” Nolan said. “The music is iconic, the characters are recognizable and memorable, and every child already has a relationship with those stories before they ever set foot on a stage. That familiarity is a gift — it lowers the fear and raises the excitement.”

At Park City Community Church, Nolan will lead Summer Theatre Camp sessions for children ages 3 to 13, depending on the session. The half-day camps run June 22-26, July 6-10, July 13-17, and July 27-31, with morning sessions for preschool through second grade and afternoon sessions for third through eighth grade. Themes include Disney Zoo, Disney on Broadway, Mermaids & Pirates, and Camp Broadway. Each session ends with a Friday showcase for family and friends, according to the church’s camp page.

Registration is open, with sessions listed at $100 per camper. The camp is held at Park City Community Church, 4501 N. State Route 224.

For Nolan, the goal reaches beyond the final song or showcase.

“What I’m really teaching is how to be brave in a safe place,” Nolan said. “How to try something scary and discover you can do it. How to cheer for the kid next to you just as loudly as you cheer for yourself.”

She said she often sees the biggest transformation in students who arrive shy, quiet, or unsure of themselves.

“When a shy 6- or 7-year-old walks in on the first day barely making eye contact, and then you see them belting out a Disney song in front of an audience a few weeks later — that’s life-changing for them,” Nolan said. “They carry it into the classroom, onto the soccer field, into every new situation where they have to show up and be seen.”

Theater, she said, gives children a place to practice collaboration, confidence, improvisation, and resilience.

“Theater teaches you to keep going, to problem-solve in the moment, and to trust your teammates,” Nolan said. “Those are skills that serve you whether you end up on Broadway or become a doctor or a teacher. The stage is just where we practice being human.”

Although Nolan’s work has shifted toward teaching, she does not describe it as an abandonment of performance.

“It doesn’t really feel like a pivot — I still perform quite a bit and absolutely love it,” Nolan said. “But I love working with young people to grow their passions and love for musical theater and the performing arts.”

Teaching, she said, allows her to pass along lessons she learned over decades.

“When I’m directing these kids, I get to hand them the things that took me decades to learn,” Nolan said. “And I’ll tell you a secret: they teach me just as much. Their fearlessness, their joy, the way they throw themselves in completely — it reminds me every single day why this art form matters.”