NYC....what is it about you?

Last night we celebrated the opening of Annie Jr. at Mt. Pleasant Middle School for the Visual and Performing Arts. I was honored to have served as a guest director – mentoring and training both staff and students in preparation for their production. Everyone exceeded their own expectations and they delivered a terrific show! Naturally, their efforts were met with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from friends, family and even board members of the wonderful "Kids on Stage" program that sponsors their theatre programming.

While the work done at Mt. Pleasant was a skills based training program offered via StageSmart Teaching Artists, the creative experiences we provide for Broadway and Touring Broadway shows are designed to engage audiences with the shows for which they are pre-ticketed.

No particular skill set required – just a willingness to have fun while exploring some of the creative challenges faced by the show's creators. These creative encounters are facilitated by StageSmart trained actors in the show and allow audience members to attend to the performance in a more deeply personal and connected way.

So, now that Annie Jr. is in the books it's time to really head to NYC!

So it's off to The Broadway League Engagement and Education Forum and Spring Road Conference we go!

This promises to be a crazy busy week full of new ideas, new shows, friends and colleagues old and new and, of course, lots of fun!

Below is a sneak peak at word magnet we've provided for the attendees. I'm sure this wonderfully creative group of folks will come up with some terrific word play to share!

Follow @stagesmarttas to keep up with everything along the way! Stay tuned!