Kravis Center Receives $100,000 Grant from Disney Musicals in Schools

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Disney to bring the Disney Musicals in Schools program to Palm Beach County.

The program is an outreach initiative developed by Disney Theatrical Productions to create sustainable theater programs in under-resourced elementary schools. The grant funds two years of programming; the Kravis Center will select four area public elementary schools to participate in the 2017-2018 school year, and another four will be selected for the following year.

The selected schools will participate in a 17-week musical theater residency, led by a team of teaching artists trained by the Kravis Center and Disney Theatrical Productions, at no cost. Each school will receive performance rights, education support materials and guidance from the teaching artists. The program features a professional development focus, through which participating school teachers partner with Kravis Center teaching artists to learn how to produce, direct, choreograph, and music direct, culminating in their first 30-minute Disney KIDS musical at their school. As a capstone to the experience, the Kravis Center will host a Student Share Celebration in which each school performs one number from their show on the Kravis Center's Dreyfoos Hall stage for an audience of students, teachers, family, and community members.

Using the unique world of musical theater, Disney Musicals in Schools helps to foster positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents, and the community. Students and teachers work in teams, developing the wide spectrum of skills needed when producing a piece of musical theater, including: critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence, and interpersonal skills.

"As part of our ever-expanding arts education programming, The Kravis Center is proud to collaborate with Disney Musicals in Schools to provide this unique experience to under-resourced elementary schools in our region," reported Judith A. Mitchell, CEO. "We are honored to receive this generous grant from Disney, and we are excited to be announcing this tremendous opportunity to create sustainable theater education programs at the local level."

Applications are now being accepted for 2017-2018 school year. Any Palm Beach County Title I (at least 70% of students eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch) public elementary school is eligible to apply. The application deadline is April 28, 2017. For more information or to apply, logon to kravis.org/DMIS, call the Kravis Center Education Hotline at 561.651.4251 or send an email to gumbinner@kravis.org.

Disney Musicals in Schools was launched in 2010 in response to Disney Theatrical Production's concern that under-resourced public elementary schools were not afforded equitable access to the arts. After successfully offering the program in New York City schools, Disney Theatrical Productions began partnering with organizations in other communities across the United States.

Disney KIDS musicals, created in partnership with Music Theater International (MTI), are 30-minute musicals designed for elementary school performers 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.

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts is a not-for-profit performing arts center whose mission is to enhance the quality of life in Palm Beach County by presenting a diverse schedule of national and International Artists and companies of the highest quality; by offering comprehensive arts education programs; by providing a Palm Beach County home in which local and regional arts organizations can showcase their work; and by providing an economic catalyst and community leadership in West Palm Beach, supporting efforts to increase travel and tourism to Palm Beach County. Please visit kravis.org.

Disney Theatrical Productions operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher and is among the world's most successful commercial theatre enterprises, bringing live entertainment events to a global audience of more than 19 million people in more than 50 countries. The division produces and licenses Broadway productions around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, TARZAN, Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, The Little Mermaid, Peter and The Starcatcher, Newsies, and Aladdin. Frozen, based on the Academy Award-winning film, is slated to open on Broadway in 2018. Other successful stage ventures have included the Olivier-nominated London hit Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney's High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, and King David in concert. DTP has collaborated with the country's leading regional theatres to develop new stage titles including The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Freaky Friday.

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists, and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials, and dynamic theatrical resources to over 70,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI's Broadway Junior shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI's School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

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