At Old Brooklyn Community Elementary School in Cleveland, the sounds of vocal warmups and well-practiced songs fill the gymnasium after school.
More than 50 students in grades third through fifth are preparing to perform the hit Disney musical, "The Lion King."
Students like Giana Demastes, 11, are so excited. She loves being on stage and acting.
“It just brings me joy,” Demastes said. “It’s really fun.”
Demastes, who plays Nala, said she didn’t know she liked to act before joining the theater program at her school.
It is the magic of exposure to new experiences in a child’s life, and it’s what a decade of Disney Musicals in Schools sounds and looks like in Northeast Ohio.
“It’s having such a big impact on our students,” said Kalyn Heins, music teacher and director at Old Brooklyn Community Elementary School. “We had over 100 kids try out for the show!”
She said it’s rewarding to watch her students learn about themselves by playing someone else.
“And to watch them make their own choices as actors,” she smiled.
This is the third year Old Brooklyn Community Elementary has participated in the program through Playhouse Square and presented by Dee and Jimmy Haslam.
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“I am Simba,” said William Richardson, 11.
He says everything is his favorite part.
“Seeing my family out in the crowd,” he said. “The teachers help me, they got rid of my stage fright,” he said. “And my friends, it’s just everybody on the crew; they’ve done so good that it makes me good!”
Disney Musicals in Schools is marking 10 years in Northeast Ohio of helping launch theater programs in underserved schools with more than 1,000 students participating. First-year schools get the experience of performing on a professional stage at Playhouse Square.
“We now have 20 to 30 elementary schools throughout our community that on any given year are producing a musical,” said Daniel Hahn, vice president of education at Playhouse Square.
As part of the program, schools receive support with performance rights and guidance from teaching professionals as they build towards making their theatre program sustainable.
Heins said due to the popularity of the program among students and the support from the community through an annual fundraiser, she believes they’re on track to keep the program going and growing. She says ticket sales from the previous year’s show also help sustain them.
Plus, they get creative when it comes to making props, sets, and costumes!
“We use paper towel rolls, cardboard, paper mâché, and all of our paint has been donated,” said Heins. “And I’m downstairs on my lunchbreak cutting out leaves!”
Hahn credits the students and staff at all the participating schools for the success of the program.
“These children are taking the arts as a learning experience that they’ll keep with them for the rest of their lives,” he said.
