![]() I knew there would be kids who would be excited to sign up, but would be out of town for some of the rehearsals. I listed the dates and times of every rehearsal and performance and made it clear that all rehearsals were MANDATORY. Make sure that your grant money is ready to go when you start this process.īefore the auditions, I held several informational meetings at lunch, and sent home audition permission slips. Since it was my first time dealing with the licensing and all of that, this process took me several months to complete. The director’s book comes with everything you need to run your auditions, so you need to purchase this package before the auditions. If you choose a full-length adult production, your show will likely be too long and will not play to the strengths of middle school students. There are plenty of shows to choose from, and I can’t wait to pick one for next year. The length of the shows is perfect, and the humor level is spot on. If you are working with middle school students like I did, you will definitely want to choose a script from their Broadway Junior Collection. You will receive high-quality, professional scripts, background music tracks, and you can order t-shirts and a graphics package. ![]() Generally, this will cost about $1,000 (but that’s why you got a grant!). I highly suggest purchasing a script and licensing rights from MTI Productions. ![]() I love the music and the costumes and the setting, so choosing a show was the easy part. The world of Aladdin and Agrabah just seemed like a fun place to be over the summer. ![]() I am lucky that my principal is as much of a musical theatre nerd as I am! As I teacher, I had to rely on administrators for facilities, paperwork, insurance, processing funds, etc. Without the cooperation of administrators, the program would have been dead in the water. We worked closely with my principal and the performing arts director at the district office. I promise you, there ARE still good people in this world who are willing to help kids in their communities! The foundation approved my grant, and agreed to fully fund the program. I developed a grant proposal and a budget with the things we would need to make the summer production happen. I work in a low-income neighborhood where many students can’t afford to attend any summer programs at all. We also wanted it to be free to any student who was interested in participating. We saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the school where I work, to not only provide the very first musical theatre instruction there, but also to offer a summer program as an alternative to playing Minecraft or watching TV for two and a half months. We both believe that the performing arts can be transformational in young students’ lives, and that every student deserves to have access to high quality performing arts programs. I sat down with the director of this foundation, and our passions aligned perfectly. The purpose of this foundation is to provide grant money to teachers who bring performing arts opportunities to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have those opportunities. In the end, I met a man who runs a foundation in the same town where I teach. It’s a long story, but it involves two buddies on a road trip, my parents at a pub 600 miles from where I live, some small town friendliness, and a string of coincidences and shared passions. It will drive you halfway to crazy pulling everything together, but it is so worth it! How did we do it? Well, it was a bit of a whirlwind, but I will try and break down the steps for anyone who is interested in starting something like this at another school. And it was fantastic! I’m not even kidding, it made grown men cry. It basically took a genie and about a thousand wishes to bring my dream to life, but it the end, we did it! Twenty five middle school students and I put on the very first summer musical production ever at our school.
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