MARQUEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - Pacific Palisades
120 5TH graders at Marquez Elementary School in the Palisades study American history by performing original musicals about the pilgrims, the writing of the constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, the birth of the industrial revolution and the civil rights movement. The Festival takes these remarkable shows public each year. In 2010 we sent Marquez to New York where the kids performed their musical about the birth of the Industrial Revolution, WATER & POWER, in the New York Musical Theater Festival.
In 2011 the Festival will be spearheading the effort to expand the 5th grade American History Musicals Program to other schools. In 2011 the Festival will also present PLYMOUTH 2.0 in public performance.
This may be the only program of its type in America. UCLA recently did a research study which concludes that these kids retain twice as much knowledge of the history they've studied as the average 5th grade history class. And wait till you see sixty ten-year-olds on stage together singing and dancing. It's a great story and a remarkable new way of learning. All credit due to Jeff Lantos, 5th grade teacher, book writer, lyricist, his composer Bill Augustine and the faculty and staff of the school.
CHECK IT OUT!
THE PUC PROJECT
PUC, charter schools in the north Valley, are 90% Hispanic, 5% black and 5% white. They have a brilliant department headed by Sarah Rosenberg and Luis Cardenas that introduces theater to most students for the first time. Each year they take a Shakespeare play and transform it onto a contemporary musical. The Festival has presented two of these inspired musical romps in public performance, FOOLS IN LOVE and TEMPEST TOSS'D. The Festival will send TEMPTEST TOSS'D to the New York Musical Theatre Festival this FalI.
THE COLLEGE COURSE: TH 193
This may be the first college course ever offered in SoCal in how to create a new musical. The school is College of the Canyons. The course is TH 193. And this is the second year the course is being offered as part of the Festival. The show is THE GIVER, based on Lois Lowry's phenomenally successful adult novel. Forty students will have the opportunity to work in all aspects of originating a musical, from creation to production to performance. For more information, contact paul.wickline@canyons.edu
HELP US DO OUR PART TO KEEP THE ARTS IN THE SCHOOLS
With our schools facing drastic cuts in arts programs at the same time musical theater is flourishing, the FESTIVAL has a major opportunity to make a difference for our children. Right now.
Our educational programs reach out to elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges to educate, inspire and showcase new generations of creators, performers and audiences. We do this through year-round educational outreach activities, and through our annual Festival of New American Musicals.
When we first conceived the Festival, we believed that there was a major revival of musical theater beginning to happen in this country. We were right. We also believed that Southern California was a hotbed of creative and performing talents, just waiting to be discovered. We were right there as well. We have the talent and we have the interest on the part of the theaters, the schools and from the community to become a major source for new composers, lyricists, book writers, directors, producers, choreographers, dancers and performers. Already, we involved more than 5,000 of them in the '08, '09 and '10 festivals with more scheduled for '11.
Our priority is to continue to expand that foundation in order to inspire and engage our communities to help keep the arts alive in our schools, and to advance the performing talents of the youth of Southern California as we develop Southern California as the new American musical theater center as well as the new audience for the future of our musical theater community.
THE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
In 2009, we created the Festival's Academy for Young Professionals, offering ongoing in-person training for high school and college age youth with top performers, composers, choreographers and casting directors. At the first session, a master class in vocal performance was taught by Stephen Schwartz. Faculty also included Amanda McBroom and Karen Morrow. That was followed by Academy II, "How To Write A Musical," in which three of today's top musical theater writers, Jeff Marx, Georgia Stitt and the team of Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary worked with budding young composing and writing talent on the basics of creating a show. Academy III, another performer's session featured a faculty of Megan Hilty, director Richard Israel, casting director Michael Donovan and choreographer Daniel Mojica. Academy IV brought six of the brightest young high school composers and lyricists together with William Finn (Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos, A New Brain, Little Miss Sunshine) for a weekend workshop in writing songs for musicals.
MENTORING NEW MUSICALS
Through the Academy the Festival is inspiring young high school and college students to work on original musical theater projects. This year we are working with two Hamilton High School Academy seniors, Sean Eads and Anthony Lucca, to workshop their first musical, LEMONADE on June 10 and 11 at the Skylight Theatre in Hollywood.
