Disney Musicals In Schools Comes To Kingman!

KINGMAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS TO RECEIVE GRANT FUNDING FROM DISNEY AND THE SMITH CENTER TO LAUNCH THEATER PROGRAM AT KINGMAN SCHOOLS

Kingman Center for the Arts to apply grant funding toward initiating Disney Musicals in Schools program at two Kingman schools

KINGMAN, ARIZONA – Kingman Center for the Arts announced today it will receive grant funding from Disney and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas in order to launch the Disney Musicals in Schools program at two Kingman schools. Developed by Disney Theatrical Productions, the national Disney Musicals in Schools initiative is used to create sustainable theater programs in under-resourced elementary schools.

Through this grant funding, two selected schools in Kingman will each participate in a 17-week musical theater residency, at no cost to the schools. These residencies will be led by a team of Kingman teaching artists, all trained by The Smith Center’s teaching artists. Each school will receive performance rights, education support materials and weekly guidance from these teaching artists, culminating with the schools each performing their first 30-minute Disney KIDS musical.

“Kingman Center for the Arts couldn’t be more excited to join with The Smith Center in introducing our community’s children to the joy of performing,” said Kristina Michelson, executive director with Kingman Center for the Arts. “Without this support from Disney and The Smith Center, our local schools might never have an opportunity to give students a musical theater experience. We can’t wait to see the long-term impact this program has on students’ confidence and education.”

The Smith Center, Southern Nevada’s leading performing arts center and a nonprofit organization, has served as a regional partner with the national Disney Musicals in Schools program for five years. Disney recently selected The Smith Center to help expand the program into rural communities.

Under this new role, The Smith Center will re-grant funds from Disney Citizenship to Kingman Center for the Arts over multiple years, in order to launch sustainable musical theater programs at Kingman schools. The Smith Center, which has brought the Disney Musicals in Schools program to over 30 Southern Nevada schools, will oversee all of Kingman Center’s efforts with launching these schools’ new musical theater programs over multiple years, all under the Disney Musicals in Schools initiative.

The Disney Musicals in Schools program features a professional development focus, through which participating Kingman school teachers will partner with their teaching artists to learn how to produce, direct, choreograph, music direct, and stage manage, resulting in the schools performing their first-ever musical productions.

As a capstone to the experience, the participating Kingman schools will perform in The Smith Center’s annual Student Share Celebration, during which schools in their inaugural year with Disney Musicals in Schools perform one number from their productions on The Smith Center stage for an audience of students, teachers, family and community members.

“The Smith Center has seen Disney Musicals in Schools transform students across Southern Nevada, so we’re honored that Disney chose us as the very first to take on this expanded role,” said Myron Martin, president and CEO of The Smith Center. “Education is in our DNA at The Smith Center, and helping bring musical theater programs to rural schools falls right into what we’re all about.”

Disney Theatrical Group selected The Smith Center in April 2013 as the second regional partner in the nation for the Disney Musicals in Schools program. Since then, The Smith Center has helped over 30 schools in Southern Nevada create their own sustainable musical theater programs.

Disney Musicals in Schools was launched in 2010 in response to Disney Theatrical Production’s concern that under-resourced public elementary schools were not afforded equitable access to the arts. After successfully offering the program in New York City schools, Disney Theatrical Productions began partnering with organizations in other communities across the United States.

Using the unique world of musical theater, Disney Musicals in Schools helps to foster positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents and the community.  Students and teachers work in teams, developing the wide spectrum of skills needed when producing a piece of musical theater, including: critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence and interpersonal skills.

Disney KIDS musicals, created in partnership with Music Theater International (MTI), are 30-minute musicals designed for elementary school performers and have been adapted from the classic Disney films “101 Dalmatians,” “Aladdin,” “The Aristocats,” “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” “The Lion King” and “Winnie the Pooh.”

Disney Musicals in Schools at Kingman Center for the Arts will launch in September.  Public elementary schools who would like to apply for participation are encouraged to contact Kristina Michelson at [email protected] School applications are due August 10.

Additionally, adults with performing arts experience in theater or musical theater who are interested in auditioning for a Teaching Artist position with the program are encouraged to send a resume to [email protected]

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Kristina Michelson

Kingman Center for the Arts

[email protected]

ABOUT KINGMAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Kingman Center for the Arts is a nonprofit arts organization committed to bringing more arts and culture to Kingman, Arizona.  Located at 208 E. Beale Street in downtown Kingman we operate the Beale Street Community Theater Program and The Gallery at KCA, a formal community gallery and recital hall. We also own the Beale Street Theater, a future performing arts venue for the city located at 304 E. Beale Street. For more information see our websites at www.bealestreettheater.com and kingmanarts.org.  We are also on Facebook.

ABOUT THE SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS:

The hallmark of downtown Las Vegas’ 61-acre urban development known as Symphony Park, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is a public-private partnership that opened in March 2012. Heralded as the city’s Heart of the Arts®, The Smith Center is an architectural triumph and long-awaited cultural achievement that educates and entertains the citizens of Southern Nevada. The $470 million world-class performing arts center offers a blend of performances by resident companies, first-run touring attractions, lectures and internationally-acclaimed performers in music, theater and dance. The five-acre campus features four performance spaces including the 2,050-seat Reynolds Hall, the 258-seat Cabaret Jazz club, the 240-seat Troesh Studio Theater and the 1.7-acre Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park for outdoor concerts. Additionally, the campus is home to the Discovery Children’s Museum that opened in March 2013. For more information about The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, please visit www.TheSmithCenter.com. Keep up with news and events on Facebook and follow The Smith Center on Twitter at @SmithCenterLV.

DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS (DTP) operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher and is among the world’s most successful commercial theatre enterprises, bringing live entertainment events to a global annual audience of more than 20 million people in more than 50 countries.  Under the Disney Theatrical Productions banner, the group produces and licenses Broadway productions around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida, TARZAN®, Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, The Little Mermaid, Peter and the Starcatcher, Newsies, Aladdin, and Frozen.  Other successful stage musical ventures have included the Olivier-nominated London hit Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, and King David in concert.  DTP has collaborated with the country’s leading regional theatres to develop new stage titles including The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Freaky Friday.

Disney Theatrical Productions also delivers live shows globally through its license to Feld Entertainment, producer of Disney on Ice and Disney Live!  For over 30 years, Disney on Ice and Disney Live! have brought beloved Disney stories and characters annually to over 12 million guests in nearly 50 countries worldwide, through productions such as Marvel Universe Live! and Frozen, the most well attended and highest grossing Disney on Ice production to date.  In addition, DTP licenses musical titles for local, school and community theatre productions through Music Theatre International, including The Lion King Experience, a unique holistic arts education program wherein accredited elementary and middle schools produce condensed, age-appropriate JR. and KIDS adaptations of The Lion King.

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists, and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials, and dynamic theatrical resources to over 70,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior™ shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.