As we embark on what we hope will be a year of great joy and creative discovery for all, we wanted to share some of the fun we had in 2016:

StageSmart delighted in developing a “Program of Creative Adventures” for the national tour of Finding Neverland – the story of how Peter became Pan. In telling the story of Peter Pan’s author J.M. Barrie, this enchanting musical celebrates the imagination in all of us.

We hope you’ll have an opportunity to see the show and participate in one of our “Creative Adventures” when you do! You’ll find the touring schedule and ticket information here: http://findingneverlandthemusical.com/tour/

To accompany the “Creative Adventures,” we've designed a “Discovery Quest” that will enrich the experience of Finding Neverland for any young theatergoer, whether they attend with their family or classmates. Clicking on the "Program of Creative Adventures" will allow you to see more. The Discovery Quest materials appear at the bottom of this blog post for your enjoyment. We invite you to share your experience using these experiential engagement tools on our Facebook and twitter pages.

StageSmart’s Study Guide for ELF the Musical was selected for ongoing use by the production during the 2016 Holiday Tour, for which we are both grateful and proud.

Beth Anne Musiker, StageSmart President, once again served as a member of TPAC’s lead teaching artist team, providing professional development in arts integration practices for Tennessee educators during both TPAC Education's Summer and Fall Institutes. She also worked directly with students grades K - 12 throughout the school year, preparing them to see shows presented as part of TPAC’s Season for Young People.

The TN Arts Commission’s statewide Conference, Collective Impact: Together as Change Agents, found StageSmart leading teaching artists in discussions designed as peer to peer professional development and an opportunity to build a stronger network across the state.

We are excited to see what kind of fun 2017 will bring! We welcome every opportunity to create and provide immersive experiential pre-show events for your venue and productions, wherever they may be and we look forward to hearing from you. Happy New Year!

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!