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At iTheatrics our mission is to create sustainable, cost-effective musical theatre experiences for everyone, everywhere. iTheatrics believes the most effective way to accomplish this mission is to develop long-term partnerships with like-minded companies and organizations.
Custom Study Guides:
As the leading experts in musical theatre and education, iTheatrics develops custom study guides for Broadway, Off-Broadway and Regional theater productions. Because iTheatrics wrote the text book on musical theatre, and actively works with teachers on a daily basis,clients can be assured the iTheatrics study guides exceed the national standards, enhance the overall experience of attending a production for students, teachers and their families, as well as provide valuable marketing collateral to reach new audiences, and keep them coming back.
For Regional Theaters and Performing Arts Centers:
iTheatrics has a number of programs that have been developed to enhance the education and outreach programs for regional theaters and performing arts centers. These programs are designed to provide organizations with cost-effective, properly vetted educational opportunities for local schools and teachers. These include Junior Teaching Intensives, which provide working teachers with professional development and skill-building in the area of musical theatre, and Broadway Junior Celebrations, which are full day festivals designed to celebrate the performing arts achievements of schools in the local area.
For more information about the Junior Teaching Intensives please visit the Junior Teaching Intensives page.
For Schools and School Districts:
Through extensive partnerships with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and New York City’s Department of Education, iTheatrics has created a program that successfully builds cost-effective and sustainable musical theatre programs in schools. This program has been in development for over five years and has been vetted through three of the most challenging school systems in the nation to impressive results.
The Kennedy Center program was featured in the 2004 PBS documentary Children Will Listen, narrated by two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters. The documentary followed over 100 fourth through eighth grade Washington, D.C. public school students as they experienced theatre for the first time in the classroom and ultimately performed a full-scale production of Into The Woods Junior for Stephen Sondheim at the Kennedy Center's 2002 Sondheim Celebration.
Creative Development for New Works:
iTheatrics and its artists have served as creative consultants for a number of distinguished clients including Music Theatre International, Disney Theatrical Productions, Work Light Productions, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Coterie Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals and The Jim Henson Company. Past projects include developing stage musicals from films and books (including Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, Disney’s High School Musical Junior, Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley) to creating special events for conferences including presentations for the National Music Educator’s Conference, National PTA, National Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals and the National Alliance of Music Theatre. For more information about shows in development at iTheatrics, please visit the Shows In Development Page.
For more information on these or other consulting opportunities please contact Marty@iTheatrics.com
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Custom Study Guides for Musicals
Case Study: iTheatrics Writes Showguide for
Laurence Fishburne Drama Thurgood
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iTheatrics wrote and designed the educational Showguide for Booth Theatre production of Thurgood, the one man-show by George Stevens, Jr., directed by Leonard Foglia, which starred Laurence Fishburne. The play follows the remarkable and triumphant story of Thurgood Marshall, who rose from a childhood in the back street of Baltimore to become the first African-American to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The study guide includes in-depth information about Thurgood Marshall’s life, some of the significant legal cases in which he was involved, the 14th amendment and the NAACP.
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Junior Theater Celebrations
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Ready-to-go, on-site programming
The Junior Theater Celebration is iTheatrics’ one-day, total immersion program involving hundreds of students and teachers on site at your theater.
Led by iTheatrics teaching professionals, the program is crafted for junior high school level students and their teachers and includes:
- Up to 15 schools performing a single number from a Broadway Junior or Kids Collection show for adjudication and comment by iTheatrics teaching professionals,
- A series of professional development workshops for teachers,
- A series of workshops for students, and
- A musical finale performed together by all participating students as part of the workshops
For more information, email info@itheatrics.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
John Alexander
iTheatrics
(646) 847-8091
john@itheatrics.com |
First Ever Junior Theater Celebration at
Charlotte North Carolina’s Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts
A Smash Hit!
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Hearts were soaring and voices were raised in song when hundreds of North and South Carolina students in grades 2 –8 and their teachers commemorated their onstage accomplishments at the first-ever Broadway Junior Celebration, taking place on Friday, May 9th, at the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center at Spirit Square. Created and directed by iTheatrics, in association with the leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) and the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Education Institute, the celebration allowed students and teachers from 15 area schools to perform for and with fellow enthusiasts of the arts.
Each school group performed a selection of a musical for a distinguished panel of theater professionals and was given feedback about their creativity, engagement in the performance, understanding of the material and connection to the lyrics and movement from a panel of iTheatrics teaching productions.
In addition, the groups took part in interactive workshops for students and professional development opportunities for teachers and even attended a professional production of the Nightingale at the Wachovia Playhouse at ImaginOn.
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The Shubert Foundation/MTI Broadway Junior Project and Buffalo Public Schools Go Broadway Program / Creating Self-Sustaining Arts Program in School Districts Graduate from The Shubert Foundation/MTI Broadway Junior Project
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In 2005, iTheatrics began an innovative partnership with the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), Music Theatre International and the Shubert Foundation, which provides the skills and training necessary for educators at New York City public schools to build a self-sustaining musical theater program in their schools within two years.
This groundbreaking musical theatre mentorship program empowers students and teachers through a unique “Ready… Get Set... GO!” approach:
Ready… Teachers and students are guided step-by-step through the process of producing a first-ever musical in their schools.
Set… Teachers and students continue to receive support and encouragement on their second musical, but take ownership over their productions.
Go… Teachers and students independently present a musical in their schools, and their production serves as inspiration for other schools involved in earlier cycles of the program.
Any New York City middle and intermediate public school without an existing arts program is eligible for The Shubert Foundation/MTI Broadway Junior Project. To apply, schools fill out an application form which includes an explanation on how they hope to integrate a musical theater program in their school, as well as written commitments from a team of three or more teachers, the principal, assistant principal, custodial staff and parent representatives.
First Year, First Musical (READY)
The first year of the program is designed to give schools all the tools and knowledge they need to present a full musical in their community.
Teams of teachers from selected schools attend four intensive iTheatrics Professional Development workshops in which they take part in interactive, hands-on activities addressing all elements of musical theater production: from casting, staging and choreography, to rehearsal techniques and the technical aspects of theater. The workshops also address ways to involve the entire community in a production and how to connect the musical to the school curriculum.
These workshops are all lead by iTheatrics team of teaching experts and Broadway Professionals and had been endorsed by both the NYCDOE and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They are spaced throughout the year, so that teachers may address new issues that come up during the rehearsal process. Not only do the teachers have the continued guidance and support of their workshop leaders, but they also are able to discuss with each other how their process is going.
The teachers select a musical from Music Theatre International’s Broadway Junior Collection. They receive a Broadway Junior ShowKit of resources – including the performing rights to the musical, a Director’s Guide, choreography DVD and show-specific curriculum activities – which reinforce to the information they had learned in the workshops. They hold auditions, cast the show, select their crew and begin rehearsals.
An appointed project advisor from Arts Connection, a New York City Arts in Education company that specializes in providing artists and educators to schools, travels to their school once a week throughout their rehearsal process to offer support, guidance and encouragement.
All schools hold individual premieres of their full musical in their respective communities. These performances bring the greater community of teachers, students, parents and friends together to applaud the hard work and creativity of all the students and teachers involved.
After presenting their show in their community, all schools are invited to a final celebration at an area performing arts center. Each school performs a selection from their musical, and two students from each school talk about what it was like for them to be involved in the program and how their show at their school was received. This final celebration reinforces community, and allows the students to meet and cheer on their peers throughout the city who have just been through the same experience.
There will be four New York City public schools are involved in this first cycle of the 2008/2009 program.
Second Year, Second Musical –(SET)
The second year of the program reinforces the knowledge that the teachers have learned and allows them to apply their experience through the process of putting on another musical.
The returning educators take part in advanced teacher training workshops. They select another musical for performance in their school and receive their Broadway Junior ShowKit and performance rights. The show is cast and rehearsals begin. The same project advisor continues to visit the school to check-up on the cast and crew’s progress, but these meetings are less frequent, in order to encourage the groups to take full ownership of their art program. The schools present another full musical in their community and attend the final celebration with the other schools.
Five New York City public schools are involved in this second cycle of the 2008/2009 program.
Graduation, Third Musical –(GO!)
Schools and teachers who have successfully completed the two-year program now have the tools and experience necessary to sustain a musical theater program in their school. The teachers and schools are awarded a certificate of graduation and receive the performing rights and ShowKit for another production free of charge. Most importantly, they are invited to showcase their show at the final celebration, so that they can encourage the other teachers and students in their journey of building a self-sustaining arts program in their schools.
Eight New York City public schools have graduated from the program. Two of these schools are now serving as mentoring schools.
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New York Governor David A. Paterson Applauds Buffalo Public School Students For Hitting A
High Note For Music Education through
‘BPS Goes Broadway’ Program!
Students Presented First-Ever Musicals in Their Schools and
Performed On Stage At Buffalo’s Shea’s Performing Arts Center
Through Program From Music Theatre International, iTheatrics and
Shea’s Performing Arts Center
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New York Governor David A. Paterson joined in the applause for hundreds of Buffalo-area public school students and teachers who took a leading role in bringing the magic of theater to their schools and communities through the first-ever BPS Goes Broadway program. Paterson sent a signed letter to the BPS Goes Broadway closing celebration at Buffalo’s Shea’s Performing Arts Center in April, 2008. He congratulated the students for using one of New York State’s greatest economic exports – the Great American Broadway Musical – to build cost effective and sustainable arts programs in public schools.
The BPS Goes Broadway program is the result of an innovative partnership between Shea’s Performing Arts Center, theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) and iTheatrics. This groundbreaking musical theater mentorship program will continue build sustainable arts programs in Buffalo public schools in the 2008-2009 school year.
The inaugural BPS Goes Broadway brought together over 150 “star” teachers and “show-stopping” students at three separate schools: Highgate Heights Elementary (School 80) under the direction of Gina Dormer, Houghton Academy (School 69) under the direction of Karen Williams and Waterfront Elementary (School 95) under the direction of Veronica Lund. The project continues to be overseen by recently retired Gowanda, NY, teacher Ripley, who also serves as the lead educational consultant for iTheatrics in New York City.
Last year, students from three Buffalo public schools presented a full musical in their schools through the program and the three schools came together at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in April 23, 2008 to share and celebrate their achievements with each other.
In September, 2007, the participating teachers from each school attended a professional development seminar at Shea’s Smith Theatre, led by Ripley that took them step-by-step through the process of putting on a musical in their school. In October, the teachers took their students to a production of Frog and Toad at Shea’s Performing Arts Center for inspiration, and the students got to speak with the tour cast following the production.
Each school selected a show from MTI’s prestigious Broadway Junior Collection of 70-minute musicals that have been adapted so that they are appropriate for middle school students to perform.
On January 30th, leading theater executives from iTheatrics will traveled from New York City to Buffalo to work with the teachers at the Smith Theatre. This Teaching Intensive allowed the educators to hone their directing skills through interactive, hands-on activities addressing all elements of musical theater production.
In April and May, the schools presented their full musicals in their communities and the three schools had a culminating celebration performance at Shea’s Performing Arts Center on April 23,2008.
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iTheatrics Takes It Show on the Road through Touring Productions
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WHO: iTheatrics and IntraMusic Theatricals have partnered with performing arts centers across the country to create new and exciting musical theatre experiences for children and their parents and teachers.
WHAT: iTheatrics’ and IntraMusic Theatricals saw an opportunity to improve the quality of theatre for young audiences across the country and developed touring productions: Broadway Junior on Tour, Disney’s Discover Theater!, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley,Frankly Ben and The Ant and The Elephant to travel to performing arts centers across the country.
WHEN/ WHERE: A complete tour schedule is available at www.intramusictheatricals.com.
WHY: The tours embody iTheatrics’ “On Your Mark” approach by inspiring young people to present their own musical theatre production through the process of attending a show. These touring musicals also allow local performing arts centers to build a relationship with young audiences and encourage them to continue to frequent other community artistic events.
A complete tour schedule is available at www.intramusictheatricals.com.
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