Finalists Named for iTheatrics and SMASH's 'Make a Musical' Contest

iTheatrics' Junior Theater Project has announced the thirty schools nationwide which are finalists for the second phase of "NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical," a philanthropic initiative sponsored by NBC's new musical drama series "Smash" which creates sustainable musical theater programs in underserved schools nationwide. America may vote for its top ten favorites at makeamusical.org until May 4th, on May 7 the ten winning schools selected to have a full "NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical" program installed in their school will be announced.

The 30 Fall 2012 "NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical" finalists are:

Conway Christian School in Conway, AR
Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, CA
University High School in Los Angeles, CA
Charles E. Hart Middle School, in Washington, DC
Haralson County Middle School in Tallapoosa, GA
Gary Corner College Prep in Chicago, IL
LaGrange High School in Lake Charles, LA
South Middle School in Brockton, MA
Ambrose Elementary School in Winchester, MA
Johnnycake Elementary School in Baltimore, MD
Vandercook Lake MS/HS in Jackson, MI
Flint Northwestern High School in Flint, MI
Muskegon High School in Muskegon, MI
Confluence Academy Walnut Park in Saint Louis, MO
Hunter High School in Gastonia, NC
The Newcomers School in Greensboro, NC
Green Hills School in Greendell, NJ
Teaneck Community Charter School in Teaneck, NJ
Moreno Valley High School in Angel Fire, NM
The Global Learning Collaborative in New York, NY
Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, NY
Lane Middle School in Portland, OR
Richard Allen Prepartory Charter School in Philadelphia, PA
Big Beaver Falls Area Middle Schools in Beaver Falls, PA
A+ Academy in Dallas, TX
Ben Franklin Elementary in Wichita Falls, TX
Desert Wind Elementary School (K-8) in El Paso, TX
Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma, WA
Ashland Middle School in Ashland, WI
Blennerhassett Middle School in Parkerburg, WV

Schools across the nation applied to be a part of the Fall 2012 program (second phase) at makeamusical.org.  From the over 1,000 applications which were sent in to makeamusical.org, iTheatrics' Junior Theater Project selected 30 schools. America will vote on its top ten schools which will receive the full "NBC's 'Smash': Make a Musical" program which includes
professional development workshops with nationally recognized master theater teachers for the school teachers and students in each of the schools.  These workshops take educators step-by-step through the process of producing a first-ever musical.  Schools will be given the rights to produce a show from MTI's Broadway Junior collection of musicals for students performances and guided through the entire process by a local program advisor, offering teachers and students the support and encouragement they need in order to take ownership over their productions.  At the completion of the program, each school will put on multiple public performances of its show for the entire community and will take part in a final professional development workshop specifically focused on evaluating the process and planning.  The 20 additional schools which did not finish in the top ten of the voting will be awarded a MTI Broadway Junior Collection "ShowKit" of resources designed to guide cast and crew through the production process, plus licensing rights to perform a full musical.

iTheatrics' Junior Theater Project plans to produce 170 additional "Make a Musical" programs in the fall. In 2013, iTheatrics plans to launch an additional 200 programs and by 2014, the goal is to have 1,000 new arts programs positively impacting over one million U.S. students.  Schools may continue to apply for the remaining 170 Make a Musical program slots set to launch in the fall, and the schools will be selected in August 2012.