By JESSICA NEU
Onn Wednesday, students, teachers, families, and friends eagerly gathered at the Benedum Center for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Student Share Celebration of Disney Musicals in Schools. Each student, audience member, school staff member, and performer was full of energy, pride, and, of course, Disney magic. The program featured over 300 students from nine elementary schools throughout Allegheny and surrounding counties. Each school participates in the Disney Musical in Schools program, which offers free performance materials and free professional development to participating teachers. This nationwide outreach initiative is a three-year program that allows public school students to learn about and participate in musical theater at a young age. This year’s participants include Allison Park Elementary School, PPS Sunnyside, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Jefferson-Morgan Elementary School, Environmental Charter School Intermediate, Clairton Elementary School, Penn Hills Elementary School, Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School, and United at Twin Rivers Elementary School. Each school performed one musical selection from one of eight Disney musicals. Acclaimed actor John McGinty and multi-hyphenate Pittsburgh native Hope Anthony hosted this year’s event and encouraged performers to “immerse themselves in storytelling, to perform from their heart.” Most of all, “to have fun.” The inclusive program featured ASL interpreters, projected lyrics of each song, and McGinty’s own interpreter as he, too, is part of the Deaf community.
The program began with all participating students taking the stage for “It Starts with a Dream.” The song is specifically for the Disney Musicals in Schools program and begins every show nationwide. Allison Park Elementary School began the individual portion of the program, performing the “Prologue” from Aristocats Kids. Before the ensemble began their upbeat number, their faculty representatives took to the stage to thank their students and encourage them to “keep learning, keep creating, and never to stop believing in the magic in you.” This number featured some standout leads amongst the ensemble, as did the following number, “I Just Can’t Wait to be King,” from The Lion King Kids. Performed by PPS Sunnyside, the young Simba certainly hit her marks and her notes as the delightful ensemble took over Pride Rock.
Staff from Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf took the stage next to introduce their students, who were performing “Big Blue World” from Finding Nemo Kids. They explained the process they follow to ensure their performance maintains exceptional expressiveness and storytelling, even when delivered in ASL. The staff spends ample time working with the script to translate it from English to ASL. The result was a heartwarming performance of “Big Blue World” by some amazingly talented students.
Jefferson-Morgan Elementary School was up next with an exuberant rendition of “Hakuna Matata” also from Lion King Kids. As Pumba bemoaned that he “gets down-hearted, every time that he…,” they playfully changed Timon’s next line from “Pumba, not in front of the kids,” to “Pumba, not in front of the parents.”
Environmental Charter School Intermediate and Clairton Elementary School both shone with great ensemble numbers to “Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book Kids, and “Arabian Nights” from Aladdin Kids, respectively.
The staff representative from Penn Hills Elementary School was next to introduce his ensemble. A third-year program participant, he discussed the growth that he has seen in his students over the past three years. He explained that when he began the program, his fellow faculty made comments such as “you’ll never pull this off,” and “who do you think you are.” He proudly declared that his students have proven these statements to be wrong three times now! Disney Musicals in Schools have taught his students empathy, maturity, flexibility, and dedication. He concluded by declaring that Arts education deserves a seat at the table and must remain in schools. His students executed a wonderful version of “One Jump Ahead” from Aladdin Kids before Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School and United at Twin Rivers Elementary School closed the program with ensemble-led versions of “In Summer” and “Let it Go,” respectively. Both songs hail from the juggernaut musical Frozen. Both schools tackled the Frozen Kids renditions with enough passion to thaw a frozen heart. As I left, several audience members commented on how “phenomenal” United at Twin Rivers Elementary School’s “Let it Go” was.
Concluding the magical event, Anthony and McGinty praised students for a job well done and shared their hopes that, by participating in this program, students will remember what it is like to see things from a different perspective, and to continue to build confidence, to work together, and to find something they are passionate about. Disney Musicals in Schools is a remarkable program that demonstrates how adults with big hearts and open minds can inspire the next generation of musical theater students to dream big and belt for the rafters one song at a time.
Categories: Arts and Ideas
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