TPAC Ed Chosen to Pilot Disney Musicals in Schools’ New National Initiative

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center has been selected by Disney Theatrical Group to pilot "Disney Musicals in Schools," an outreach initiative formerly only available to New York City public schools.

The goals of "Disney Musicals in Schools" include developing awareness and appreciation of musical theatre as a collaborative art, connecting the project to curriculum standards, and strengthening the school community, which includes students, families, faculty, staff and neighbors.

TPAC Education staff, teaching artists, and Metro Nashville Public Schools educators will take part in the first pilot project outside of NYC, to lay the foundation for expansion in school systems nationwide.

"TPAC is the pilot project. It's the first time that the educational arm of Disney Theatrical is offering this opportunity to schools outside of New York," said Roberta Ciuffo West, TPAC's executive vice president for education and outreach. "We're honored to have been chosen for the initiative and we're incredibly excited about a collaboration that expands the work we already do in the schools. The very name Disney-the brand, the artistic reputation, the history and cultural contributions of many decades-is just the best that exists, from the people who dream, create and perform on Broadway to the people who are now inspiring the same work (and play!) in the schools.

"Like Disney, TPAC Education's professional development program specially trains their teaching artist faculty to work in partnership with educators in classrooms. We're a great partner for the project because, in many ways, our educational and operational approaches are similar. Disney's goal in New York City schools has been to develop a culture of theater performances, to serve and inspire children, teachers, families, and the larger school community. I know we can do that here in Nashville, illustrating that the program can be replicated in cities across the country. We look forward to working with each individual school to create, promote and sustain a musical theatre environment unique to their own school culture and community which, in turn, will support--now and for years to come--the creative and learning goals of its young people," she said.

Steve Fickinger, vice president, Creative Development of Disney Theatrical Group, said, "I am thrilled that Tennessee Performing Arts Center is joining us as our first partner in bringing Disney Musicals in Schools outside of New York City. TPAC is an organization whose impressive efforts with community and school outreach closely align with our own commitment to providing first-rate arts-education programs to young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in the performing arts. From our first two years of the program in New York, educators involved reported improvement in student attendance, engagement, confidence, collaboration - and some students discovered a new talent or a new way to communicate."

At no cost to them, five elementary schools will receive a performance license to the Disney KIDS musical of their choice, educational support materials, and in-school guidance from two TPAC teaching artists for 15 weeks. The program will involve 20 to 60 children from each school in grades three through five, both on and off the stage. These groups will each present a public performance in the spring, while TPAC will host a "Student Share" event, open to the public, on May 17, 2012, that will feature one musical number from each of the different productions.

Disney KIDS musicals, licensed by Musical Theater International (MTI), are about 30 minutes in length, and have been adapted from the classic Disney films 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, The Aristocats, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, and Winnie the Pooh.

TPAC Education has sent letters, detailed information, and applications to the principals of elementary schools in Metro Nashville. Applications are due (must be postmarked by) October 7. For more information, visit www.tpac.org/disney or e mail disneymusicals@tpac.org.

Over three decades, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center has welcomed more than 11 million audience members and served more than 1.5 million students and educators since 1983 with performances at TPAC, resources for teachers, classroom residencies, and enrichment programs for adults. Founded in 1980, TPAC serves several hundred thousand audience members each year with the annual series of HCA/TriStar Broadway at TPAC, a variety of special engagements, and the productions of the three resident artistic companies-Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Tennessee Repertory Theatre. For more information, visit www.tpac.org

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center has been partnering with Disney Theatrical Productions since 1999 and has presented Beauty and the Beast, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, The Lion King, and High School Musical to over 200,000 theatergoers during that time. In March 2012, Disney's hit musical Mary Poppins will have its Nashville premiere at TPAC.

DISNEY THEATRICAL GROUP (DTG) operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher and is among the world's most successful commercial theatre enterprises. Through Disney Theatrical Productions, Disney on Ice and Disney Live!, DTG brings live entertainment events to a global annual audience of more than 19 million people in more than 50 countries. Under the Disney Theatrical Productions banner, the group produces and licenses Broadway musicals around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida, TARZAN®, Mary Poppins, a coproduction by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, and The Little Mermaid. Other successful stage musical ventures have included King David in concert, the national tour of On The Record, several touring versions of Disney's High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, a critically-hailed Off-Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher at New York Theatre Workshop, and most recently, premiere stage adaptations of the films Aladdin at 5th Avenue Theatre and Newsies at Paper Mill Playhouse.

Disney Theatrical Group 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 Toy Story 3, Dare to Dream, Treasure Trove, Mickey's Rockin' Road Show and Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever! In addition, DTG licenses musical titles for local, school and community theatre productions through Music Theatre International.

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selections of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special collections for younger performers. The MTI Broadway Junior Collection® includes "JR." titles, 60-minute musicals for performance by middle school children; and "KIDS" titles, 30-minute musicals for performance by elementary school children. MTI School Editions^TM are musicals that have been annotated for performance by high school students, and the Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) Collection are 70-minute musicals designed for adults to perform for children.