Getting Musical in Middle School!

This year, I had the privilege of participating in our school’s second musical production. We had a LOVELY group of around 30 3rd-5th graders, and just finished a smashing rendition of Disney The Lion King Kids (funded through Disney Musicals in Schools – a GREAT program that provides support, licenses, and basic materials for Title I schools that are wanting to get their feet wet in this area). The teacher who mainly headed this up, was AMAZING, and the other two teachers had their own talents and strengths. All in all, it was one of my favorite parts of this school year, even though it was after school and did not include any of the actual kids that I teach. haha.

I love musical theater because this was definitely an area where I learned to take risks, be silly, make friends, reserve judgment, and recognize talents in others that I may not have seen right away. Interestingly enough, currently on social media, the folks I actually casually chat up the most (on Facebook), are not my friends from sports teams or school projects, but from the one season of my life sophomore year, when I participated in a community musical.

Anyway, I think it’s an awesome way to get kids excited, creative, resolve differences, etc.. and I think the excitement is there to try to run junior musicals for 6th-8th graders…

But where is the money? What I’d really love is maybe $3,000 in seed money. It would be to start off our main costume needs and set needs, and then have enough to purchase 2 licenses – one for the kids musical (3rd-5th) and one for the junior musical (6th-8th). Essentially, after we sell tickets and get better at fundraising, we’d just be bringing back about $5-600 a musical.

If I set my sights real high, I’d love an artist in residence to help us lead the 6th-8th grade junior musical. To help us figure out how to schedule rehearsals, lead dance practices, etc.

I guess I missed the boat for a lot of grant opportunities this year, and most programs are unfortunately closing because our government decided arts is no longer a priority… buuuut for future reference:

http://arts.ca.gov/programs/ae.php — this is a grant I can apply for since we would be doing arts as an extension of our school day (after school). (Fall 2018)

https://www.arts.gov/grants-organizations/art-works/musical-theater – I would need to be able to match whatever funding I receive, but this could be a possible source… Spring 2019… except they might lose their funding..

http://disneymusicalsinschools.com — this is the organization where we got an artist in residence and 2 years of free licenses. Feel free to apply!

https://www.bankofamericasponsorships.com/sponsorship/Index.aspx – should I try to get sponsored by Bank of America?? hmm

http://americantheatrewing.org/program/the-andrew-lloyd-webber-initiative/ — apply in the Fall of 2018

https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/community/philanthropy – Okay, this is for soccer, but I might as well throw this in here. Plus there are other grant opportunities.

http://giving.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/local-giving-guidelines – APPLY NOW! *rolling*

http://www.theatreworksusa.org/financial_assistance.cfm — will look into this list more closely later

an ode to book remixes

I just finished watching Jumanji (2017), and I enjoyed it. What brought a little twinge to my heart (besides remembering Robin Williams in the first Jumanji movie – a film I never fully watched because honestly, it was really suspenseful and I couldn’t deal with wave after wave of disastrous surprise) was the film credits, “based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg.” His book covers were always so haunting, and I’m glad for these artists who shed thought into a growing mind.

I just got back from a 5-day backpacking trip through BAWT. And on the last day, they reminded us to ease into the day-to-day. It’s true. How do you explain everything AND share AND get people to experience what you did? They simply nod, and smile, and offer their polite, “That does sound great,” responses. If anything, the trip reminded me a lot about childhood.

I was blessed to have spent my childhood surrounded by books and nature – as cliche as that may sound. I loved to read, (but I didn’t care or value the nature until much later).

Somehow they go hand in hand. To me, they stretch the mind, build the imagination, and make connections. So that decades later, seeing a mustard sprig reminds me of walking the field behind my house, grabbing fistfuls of wild oats in my hands. Looking at toad eggs in a pond reminds me of tadpole springs and bringing egg sacs home. With books and authors, it’s the same. I was never “into” Chris Van Allsburg”, but I was always attracted by how his name looked on his book covers, and flipping through the books, the stories never “caught” me, but strangely enough, the images linger.

And maybe it’s a phase, but lately, I’m realizing that although I do like a breezy, quick read, or a stormy, deep read, I am also finding a place for the slower, paced reads.

I’m glad that we continue to remake books and movies. It’s interesting to see how plots and messages get maintained (or changed), and just how we as humans love a good story.