Disney Musicals In Schools Puts Students In The Spotlight On The Byham Theater Stage

On Tuesday, May 23, nearly 100 elementary students from Pittsburgh will have the extraordinary opportunity to sing and dance on the Byham Theater (located at 101 6th Street) stage as the result of a grant awarded to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's education department by Disney Theatrical Group (DTG).

The grant from Disney enabled the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to offer the Disney Musicals in Schools program to three schools in Pittsburgh. The program is designed to create sustainable theater programs in elementary schools. Through the program, participating schools produce a Disney KIDS musical in their school and join in a culminating performance at the Byham Theater. The participating schools are Pittsburgh Dilworth and Pittsburgh Faison located in the Pittsburgh Public Schools district in addition to Turner Intermediate School of the Wilkinsburg School District.

"The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's education department is proud to have partnered with Disney for the Disney Musical in Schools program", says Tracy Edmunds, Vice President, Arts Education, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "We are super excited to be able to host our first in-person Student Share Celebration live at the Byham Theater."

The selected schools participated in a 17-week musical theater residency, led by a team of teaching artists trained by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Disney Theatrical Group, at no cost. Each school received performance rights, educational support materials and guidance from the teaching artists. The program featured a professional development focus, through which participating educators partnered with Pittsburgh Cultural Trust teaching artists to learn how to produce, direct, choreograph and music direct, culminating in their first 30-minute Disney KIDS musical at their school. Students will perform songs from Disney's Aladdin KIDS, The Jungle Book KIDS, and The Lion King KIDS. The Student Share Celebration on May 23rd is the culmination of this year's program.

Disney Musicals in Schools 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.

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, Frozen, The Aristocats, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Winnie the Pooh.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Arts Education department offers a wide array of arts programs and activities for youth and adults throughout the year at the Trust Arts Education Center. The Center includes the Peirce Studio, a multipurpose room located on the lower level, as well as the PNC Grow Up Great Classroom and other classrooms and workshop spaces to utilize for visual and theater arts, written and spoken word, dance and other art forms.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.

DISNEY THEATRICAL GROUP (DTG) operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher and is among the world's most successful commercial theatre producers, bringing live entertainment events to a global audience of more than 20 million people a year in more than 50 countries.  Under the Disney Theatrical Group banner, the group produces and licenses Broadway productions around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida, TARZAN, Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, The Little Mermaid, Peter and the Starcatcher, Newsies, Aladdin, and Frozen. Other successful stage musical 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. DTG has collaborated with the nation's preeminent theatres to develop new stage titles including The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday, and Hercules. As a part of the recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox, DTP also heads the Buena Vista Theatrical banner which licenses Fox titles for stage adaptations including Anastasia; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; Mrs. Doubtfire and The Devil Wears Prada.

Disney Theatrical Group also delivers live shows globally through its license to Feld Entertainment, producer of Disney on Ice and Marvel Universe Live!, bringing beloved Disney stories and characters annually to over 12 million guests in nearly 50 countries worldwide.  In addition, DTG licenses musical titles for local, school and community theatre productions through Music Theatre International, including The Lion King Experience, a unique holistic arts education program wherein accredited elementary and middle schools produce condensed, age-appropriate JR. and KIDS adaptations of The Lion King.

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.

MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City (mtishows.com), with additional offices in London (MTI Europe: mtishows.co.uk, mtishows.eu), and Melbourne (MTI Australia: mtishows.com.au).