Segerstrom Center to Host Third Year of Disney Musicals in Schools

Segerstrom Center for the Arts will take its Disney Musicals in Schools program to four recently selected Title I public elementary schools during the 2016 - 2017 school year in the third year of the program. The schools are Las Positas Elementary (La Habra), Riverdale Elementary (Garden Grove), Mattie Lou Maxwell Elementary (Anaheim) and Santiago Elementary (Santa Ana). The 17-week musical theater residency begins in the fall and culminates with a 30-minute Disney KIDS musical to be performed by students at each school site. On March 21, 2017, Segerstrom Center will host a Student Share Celebration, when each school will have the extraordinary opportunity to perform a selection from their show in the Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for an audience of fellow students, family members and friends.

Disney Musicals in Schools is designed to create sustainable musical theater programs in public elementary schools. School teams are provided with the training and tools necessary to support student productions and empower them to continue keeping musical theater alive for years to come. The Center will provide teaching artists to work with each school. At no cost to them, the schools will receive performance rights, educational support materials and guidance from the teaching artists.

Initially, Disney provided a $100,000 grant to Segerstrom Center for a two-year period to get the program up and running in the Orange County area. The Center was delighted by an unexpected surprise at the end of the Student Share Celebration on March 22, 2016, when Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, along with the Million Dollar Dazzle Crew from the Disneyland Resort, presented the Center with a

generous $60,000 grant to continue the program for a third year as part of Disneyland's 60th anniversary celebration.

Throughout the first two years of Disney Musicals in Schools, eight Orange County public schools have successfully participated in the program, including nearly 800 students and more than 50 school team members working together to keep arts alive on their respective campuses. They have hailed from: Agnes Ware Stanley Elementary (Garden Grove), Ethan B. Allen Elementary (Fountain Valley), San Juan Elementary (San Juan Capistrano), Westmont Elementary (Westminster), Adelaide Price Elementary (Anaheim), Eisenhower Elementary (Garden Grove), Rea Elementary (Costa Mesa) and Hill Elementary (Garden Grove).

Disney Musicals in Schools is an outreach program initiative developed by Disney Theatrical Group to create ongoing theater programs in local elementary schools. The after-school programs are completely free to participating schools. Disney Musicals in Schools helps to keep the arts in schools and utilizes the unique world of musical theater to build positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents and the community. Students work in teams to develop or restore self-confidence, strengthen communication and collaboration skills all while learning and enjoying the process of creating a Disney musical theater production.

Disney Musicals in Schools was launched in response to Disney Theatrical Group's concern that under- resourced students in public schools were not afforded equitable access to the arts. After successfully offering the program in New York City schools, Disney Theatrical Group began partnering with organizations in other communities around the United States.

Disney KIDS musicals, created in partnership with Music Theatre 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, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, and Winnie the Pooh.

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