Brave Little Company Receives Houston Arts Alliance Grant For Cast Recording and Public Shows

Brave Little Company (BLC) was awarded a 2024 Let Creativity Happen! Grant by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. The grant will fund public performances and a cast recording of BLC's original musical Grandpa's Garden. The show was created by Brittny Bush, Rodrick Randall, Troy Scheid, and the students of Mitchell Elementary (Houston ISD), with original music composed by and played live by Rodrick Randall. It is ideal for audience members aged 5-12 and their families. The album release on all streaming platforms will coincide with public performances on November 16, 2024, at MECA - Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish starting at $10, but space is limited. More information, a detailed schedule, and tickets can be found at www.brave-little.com.

Directed by Brave Little Company's Consulting Creative Director, Brittny Bush, this immersive and interactive piece for kids aged 5-12 and their families explores Black history through an encounter with the fictional Hollis family, and their traditions of gardening and making music. Mr. Hollis, a world champion gardener, arrives with his granddaughter Bebe to teach the audience about the value of planting your own fruits and vegetables. Bebe can't stop wondering what's hidden inside Grandpa's mysterious garden shed - and with the help of the audience, her curiosity brings everyone along on a journey into the past, through song, senses, and stories.

Brett Needham, an experienced recording engineer, mixing engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer, supervised the recording of the cast album. Among many other projects, he has performed electric guitar, bass guitar, and Warr guitar live in Catastrophic Theatre productions for several years, including in Speeding Motorcycle (2019), and was the mixing engineer for the cast recording. He has performed in many iterations of The Tamarie Cooper Show, including Tamarie's Texas Toast in 2024. Music consultant Alli Villines, a Houston-based singer, songwriter, puppeteer, actor, and teaching artist, will be transcribing the recordings as sheet music so the musical can be licensed to other theatres around the country.

The sharing of stories of Black history does not need to be approached with fear, and it can feature regular families in addition to celebrated heroes. “There's a depth and a richness to Grandpa's Garden because Bebe and her grandfather are Black people whose legacy was touched by slavery,” said director Brittny Bush. “They're able to have that undercurrent of a painful past, but still bring the audience into something that's very joyful. We can be present together in the moment, building, creating something together, and I think it's so healing.”

Many of Brave Little Company's productions take place on an intimate scale, where audience interaction drives the plot. Grandpa's Garden is no exception, with attendance limited to 25 kids and their grown-ups for each performance. Participants are encouraged to sing along to the live music, interact with the characters, and get their hands dirty as they plant their own seeds to take home. Using the senses of sight, hearing, smell, sensation, and imagination, participants will explore not just the practicalities of gardening, but memory and tradition as well.

The creation of Grandpa's Garden was originally funded in part by a Founder's Project Development Grant from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America in 2017 - 2018.

Photo Credit: Alan Nguyen

About Brave Little Company

Brave Little Company is theatre for everyone. We create works about, with, and for kids and their grown-ups, reflecting Houston's diversity in the stories we tell and the artists who tell them.

Founded in 2013, we have four main areas of work: creating and producing work about, with, and for all of Houston's kids, with a focus on dual language work; THE BIG "US" PROJECT, a collaborative theatre initiative created by 100 members of Houston's refugee and immigrant communities; Wish You Were Here, a creative collaboration with students with disabilities; and teaching artist residencies serving the needs of students and teachers. Brave Little Company received the 2023 National Award for Artistic Innovation from Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, the national service organization supporting, connecting, and advocating for the field of theatre for young audiences. BLC has been on the Touring Roster of Texas Commission on the Arts since 2020. www.brave-little.com

Grandpa's Garden Creative Team

Brittny Bush (BLC's Consulting Creative Director, Grandpa's Garden Co-Creator and Director)

Brittny Bush is an actor, director and teaching artist based in Houston.

The Consulting Creative Director of Brave Little Company, Brittny is a co-creator of Grandpa's Garden; she originated the role of Bebe and directed the most recent production. Ms. Bush has performed and taught with many local companies through the years including Brave Little Company; Hope Stone; Main Street Theater; Catastrophic Theatre (Core Artist); and Classical Theater Company (Company Member). Most recent credits include Grandpa's Garden (Brave Little Company; Director), Missing from the Museum (a co-production of Brave Little Company, Dare to Dream Theatre, Off The Page, and Trike Theatre; co-writer and actor); The Turn of the Screw (Catastrophic Theatre; Puppeteer/Performer) and To Be Or RPG, a D&D web series produced by Classical Theatre Company. Ms. Bush received her BA in Theatre (Acting and Directing) from the University of Houston. She currently teaches drama at St. Francis Episcopal Primary School.

Rodrick Randall (Grandpa's Garden Composer, Lyricist, Co-Creator, and Performer, “Grandpa Hollis”)

Rodrick Randall is a Houston native and an active artist in Houston theater since 2009.

He has worked with many theater companies including The Ensemble Theatre, Main Street Theater, Queensbury Theatre, Catastrophic Theatre, and Classical Theatre Company. He is a sought-after performer for new musicals, including Catastrophic's world premiere Small Ball, produced by Daryl Morey, the General Manager for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers, formerly of the Houston Rockets; Queensbury Theatre's Unlock'd; and Curiosity Lab & Theatre's Now that You've Seen Me Naked.

He began learning the guitar in 2008, and started playing it in public while attending his late grandfather's 5th Ward church. Rodrick has been able to connect what he's learned amongst the church pews and theatrical areas. Some of the theater productions where he has performed as an actor and guitarist include Civil War Christmas (Regional Premiere - 2013), Pumpboys and Dinettes (2014), Passing Strange (Regional Premiere, Houston Press Best Musical 2017), and Ain't Nothin' But the Blues (Houston Press Best Cabaret 2017).

Rodrick is also a member of IATSE Local 896, Theatrical Wardrobe Union - Houston/Galveston chapter since 2015, and Wardrobe/dresser since 2008. He is a Sam Houston State University graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with an Acting/Directing emphasis.

Kai Womack (Performer, “Bebe”)

Kai Womack envisions using theatre as a tool to make the world a better place by starting with today's youth.

She has been a teaching artist with Brave Little Company since 2021, and previously worked at St. Mark's Episcopal School as a summer counselor and at Northchase Learning Center. Acting credits include: Brave Little Company: Grandpa's Garden (Bebe); Fade to Black Festival: Dinner With A View (Alicia); University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance: How I Learned to Play Tennis (Leena Roberts); Moore Visions Entertainment: Godspell (Cellise); Texas Southern University: David's Mother (Sally).

Kai attended Carver High School in Aldine Independent School District, where she was a student of Roshunda Jones-Kumba, a 2022 TONY Award Winner for Excellence in Theatre Education. She also completed her student teaching with Ms. Jones-Kumba this year. She served as co-director for Carver's UIL one-act play entry, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, which advanced to the state competition. The high school's production of The Bodyguard also won the Tommy Tune award for Best Musical. Kai is a 2024 graduate of the Theatre Education program at the University of Houston, and teaches theatre at Aldine Middle School.

Danny Russo (Scenic Designer)

Danny Russo is a native of Houston, Texas, where he makes his career as a visual artist.

Educated in Houston schools, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art from the University of Houston. Danny expresses his art in drawing, painting and crafts. Danny shares his art education and experience with students through art projects based on various themes and art techniques. In addition to working in drawing and painting mediums, Danny is experienced in sculpture, serigraphy (screen printing), papier-maché, and theatrical stage design and building. Being environmentally conscious, he works with materials that are safe for the user and the environment. Other creative abilities are writing, music, photography and videography. Through creative processes, Danny focuses on learning, sharing, and having fun in a safe and enjoyable way.

Troy Scheid (BLC Founder & Director; Grandpa's Garden Co-Creator and Costume Designer)

Troy Scheid is a director and teaching artist and the founder of Brave Little Company.

She is a co-writer of Missing from the Museum, and a co-devisor on BLC's plays Paper Offerings; First Day, Nueva Escuela; Wooden O: An Interactive Shakespeare Adventure; and more. She serves as lead facilitator on THE BIG “US” PROJECT, a community-driven theatre piece created by 100 members ofHouston's refugee communities.

Independent work includes numerous world and regional premieres in Houston. Additional work has appeared at the New York City International Fringe Festival, the NYC Midtown International Theatre Festival, the New York New Works Theatre Festival, and Chicago's Rhinoceros Theatre Festival. She is an associate member of SDC, the union for professional stage directors and choreographers in the United States. She is a graduate of Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and of Rice University (B.A. History, Medieval Studies), and also studied at the University of Houston, Rose Bruford College (London) with the pioneering company Oily Cart, and Lincoln Center Education.

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