A program designed to build sustainable musical theatre programs in underserved middle schools that currently have none.
This is a series of monthly updates about the JumpStart Theatre pilot program launched this year in Cincinnati, Ohio. To view previous updates, click here.
Last chance! The deadline for schools to be part of Class II of the JumpStart Theatre program is Monday, February 1. Any middle school in the Cincinnati area without a theatre program is welcome to apply. All of the information can be found on our website, www.schooltheatre.org/jumpstarttheatre.
Bootcamp II: As you might recall from our last update, the second JumpStart Bootcamp was scheduled for last Saturday, January 23. Due to the unpredictable weather, we made the decision to reschedule the event. To make up the date, Bootcamp Instructor, Marty Johnson, had the bright idea to come in from New York a couple days prior to Bootcamp III to visit with each school and chat with the teams about their specific technical needs and possibly observe a rehearsal. We’re thrilled that each team will receive this one-on-one attention.
Bootcamp III: The third Bootcamp will be held on Saturday, February 20 at the Aronoff Center for the Performing Arts. It will cover Advanced Rehearsal Techniques.
Community Celebration: Mark your calendars! The public, three-school performance to celebrate the success of the first completed year of the JumpStart Program will be held at 6:00pm on Wednesday, May 18 at Xavier University. We’d love for you to join us and will share more details about this exciting event soon.
Rehearsal progress: Every week, our tireless mentor, Dee Anne Bryll, observes a rehearsal at each school, providing advice and guidance as needed. She reports back to the EdTA staff, sharing their progress, achievements and challenges. We’ve been inspired to learn that the students are engaged and actively working on building their ensembles. The teachers are enthusiastic, patient and have selected shows that fit the schools well.
“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.” Cecil B. DeMille
After speaking with a few of the team members, we realized that there were some beautiful stories developing through this process and we wanted to begin sharing them with our supporters. Over the next several months, we’ll include one of these stories in our monthly newsletter so you have a real-life example of the difference you have helped us make. The first comes to us from John Ploehs, a reading teacher at James N. Gamble Montessori High School, who described a moment during auditions:
One young boy has been at every pre-rehearsal event we’ve had. He was really excited, studied the script and had an interest for a particular role. He got up to do his audition and he froze, melted, and tripped up. He was getting down on himself so we stopped him and said, “Don’t worry about it. Go home tonight, look at it again, come back tomorrow and we’ll do this again.” He came back the next day and knocked it out of the park. He was by far the most dynamic audition we saw. He stopped after he was done and was waiting to hear any feedback and we got up and gave him a high five and complimented him. You could just see him beaming with confidence after that. It was such an awesome moment.
Performance Dates:
April 7-8, Holmes Middle School, Annie, JR
April 21-22, Finneytown Middle School, Honk! JR
April 22-23, James N. Gamble Montessori, Once On This Island, JR
May 18, Community Celebration, Xavier University
Thanks to all of our partners and supporters on JumpStart Theatre:
- The Donald C. and Laura M. Harrison Family Foundation