Disney Musicals in Schools Lets Kids’ Talent Shine
(DALLAS) – The nonprofit AT&T Performing Arts Center recently presented its fourth Disney Musical in Schools Student Share Celebration presented by the Moody Foundation and hosted by WFAA news anchor Tashara Parker. More than 180 elementary school students performed on Monday, April 22, 2024, inside the stunning Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in the Dallas Arts District. The performances began at 6:00 p.m. before an audience of more than 1,000 family members and friends.
“Disney Musicals in Schools provides a transformative performing arts experience for countless students, and we’re thrilled to host this program at the Center,” said Warren Tranquada, AT&T Performing Arts Center President & CEO. “Ensuring schools have access to robust arts programming is a critical part of our mission, and we’re grateful for the time, talents and effort of countless people who made this year’s program a rousing success. Congratulations to these students on a fantastic performance — and we’re already looking forward to next year’s show!”
Disney Musicals in Schools (DMIS) is designed to create sustainable theater programs in five elementary schools while giving students a chance to experience and perform a musical. For over 17 weeks, the Center’s Disney-trained teaching artists worked with the students and their teachers on the choreography, songs, costumes, makeup and more. Each school received performance rights, educational support materials and guidance from the teaching artists. This culminated in a 30-minute Disney KIDS musical performance for their classmates at their school. Then they all came together in the Student Share production to perform one of their numbers in the Winspear Opera House. The schools could choose from several Disney classics including Finding Nemo KIDS, The Lion King KIDS, and The Aristocats KIDS.
The five participating Dallas ISD schools are:
- Hall Personalized Learning Academy at Oak Cliff
- Personalized Learning Preparatory at Sam Houston
- Eddie Bernice Jonson STEM Academy
- Ascher Silberstein Elementary
- José “Joe” May Elementary
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. The program was launched in 2010 in response to Disney Theatrical Group’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 Group began collaborating with organizations in other communities across the United States. The Center joined the program in 2018 and is the only program in Texas. Nationally, DMIS is made possible by a grant from the Disney Corporation.
An extra special thanks to The Moody Foundation for continually supporting DMIS!
