LEAP 360 Musical & Theater
The LEAP 360 Musical Theater Residency Program provides a fully immersive experience in musical theater, connecting the performing arts with history and social justice. Students will discover the world of musical theater through synchronous sessions, with interactive lessons facilitated by the LEAP Artists LIVE! Ensemble members. Lesson content includes a 360 exploration of important untold historical moments in American history. Over the course of 10-26+ sessions, students will research and analyze documentaries, photos, and other artifacts to get real accounts of these historical moments. They will watch the LEAP Artists LIVE! staged performance, learn scenes and songs from the musical, devise and create a new moment, and rehearse and perform a sharing of their work.
CURRENT PROGRAM OFFERINGS
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Currently, the 360° Musical Theater signature program can focus on one of three original, award-winning (New York Theater Festival, National Black Theatre Festival) shows by playwright Kathy D. Harrison: The Movement - An A Capella Musical, Southern Folk: The Story of Sharecroppers, or Liberty & Justice - Women's Suffragist Musical Story
The Movement - An A Capella Musical
Grades: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Content: Music, Drama, Step Dance, Civil Rights, Playwriting, American History
The Movement is an a cappella musical that uses narratives, harmonious singing, rhythmic movement, and historical photographic images to tell untold stories from the perspective of the young people in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 who marched against segregation, helping to change the face of history.
Southern Folk: The Story of Sharecroppers
Grades: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Content: Blues Music, Drama, Dance, Playwriting, History, Geography
Southern Folk takes a musical journey through the Mississippi Delta in the late 19th century and follows the story of first-generation, born-free Americans. Through narrative storytelling scenes and blues songs, this coming-of-age story portrays the complexities of life that sharecroppers faced and centers on Johnny, a sharecropper, who has dreams of moving north and makes a pact to leave for Chicago to find a life beyond the southern fields.
Liberty & Justice - Women's Suffragist Musical Story
Grades: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Content: Women's Suffrage Movement, Immigration, Migration, NY History, Music, Drama, Dance
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This musical follows the journeys of two women, Liberty & Justice, who relocate to New York in the 1900s seeking opportunity. One is a Caribbean immigrant who comes through Ellis Island, the other a Southern African-American migrant. Both find refuge at the White Rose Home for Colored Working Girls, a settlement house. Their shared dreams for more lead them to become involved in women's rights and suffrage. Written and directed by Kathy D. Harrison
