Encore! Encore!
Sobha Kavanakudiyil
A few days ago The Graduate Program in
Educational Theatre posted its final blog for the semester written by our very
own Meredith Smart! We ended on a fantastic note with a spectacular evening of
sharing our artistry, celebrating the end of the semester, and toasting in the
holiday season.
But this deserves an encore performance!
Our relationship with PS 161 has been
developing for years and this Fall the production of “The Little Mermaid” was
spectacular!
The performance had fantastic energy from
both graduate students and PS 161 middle school students. In addition, graduate students from this
course also had a communications group and they focused on promoting the event
(working along side graduate student Lauren Adler) and creating a community
potluck. Success!
We were thrilled to have MTI’s Peter Filichia
attend one of the three performances and he wrote:
When parents come to the school where their child is enrolled,
they’re usually prepared to hear bad news….Jennifer Katona, the director of the
graduate program in educational theater at The City College of New York, didn’t
want that to be the scenario at nearby P.S. 161. “I preferred to have parents
come to the school not because their kids were in trouble,” she says, “but
because they were now in a show.”
So three years ago, Katona and P.S. 161 principal Pamela Price
forged a relationship. City College’s graduate-student directors would stage
musicals with sixth, seventh and eighth graders. The results were 35-minute
TYA/Kids’ versions of PINOCCHIO (2011), THE JUNGLE BOOK (2012 ) and ALADDIN
(2013). They went so well that Katona felt emboldened to make her 2014 entry
the hour-long THE LITTLE
MERMAID, JR. “And,” she says, “we’re doing scene and costume changes, which
we’ve never attempted before.” Read more of the MTI blog
Truly a spectacular encore to celebrate! So
proud to be part of the CCNY Ed Theatre Ensemble! Happy Holidays!
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