Book NewsiTheatrics Releases First Book on Musical Theatre EducationThe iTheatrics Method, whichoutlines how to build musical theatre programs for youth, is now available.
By
Olivia Clement
February 03, 2017
iTheatrics, the organization that develops and implements musical theatre programs for young people, has published its first book outlining its tried-and-true method. The book, titled The iTheatrics Method, debuted at this year’s Junior Theatre Festival, which ran January 13–15 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Once On This Island Jr. - Boothbay Region YMCA
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The book, which is 366 pages, is published by GIA Publications and is priced at $49.95. To purchase The iTheatrics Method, visit Musicalsinc.com or amazon.com. The book will also be available at the first-ever Junior Theater Festival West, headlined by Dear Evan Hansen songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, which will run February 10-12 in Sacramento, California.
For the last 10 years, the New York-based iTheatrics has worked with thousands of school programs worldwide to ensure that young people have access to quality musical theatre.The organization has also worked with the White House, the Educational Theatre Association, the Kennedy Center, NBC, New York City’s Department of Education, and all the leading theatrical licensors.
Whether operating in a classroom with six performers or performing in a more high-tech space with a cast of a hundreds, The iTheatrics Method guides readers step-by-step through every aspect of staging a musical: selecting a show, pre-production work (including casting and auditions), the rehearsal process, technical rehearsals, building an audience, performances, post-show events, and activities. Each chapter also offers tips on how to bring students’ creativity to the forefront.
As well as developing a musical theatre program, iTheatrics is the organizer of The Junior Theater Festival—the world’s largest festival celebrating young people and the transformative power of musical theatre.
“Everything iTheatrics does is dedicated to making the world a better place, one musical at a time,” says iTheatrics founding chairman and one of the book’s lead authors, Timothy Allen McDonald. “Each year, over 36 million people attend a performance of one of our educational musical adaptations, cheering on the young people onstage and backstage as the ‘show goes on’ in schools all over the world. That’s three times the number of people who attend a Broadway show annually. For many of those school audience members, that student production is probably one of the only live musicals they’ve seen. So not only does The iTheatrics Method give readers the tools to positively transform the lives of millions of more kids through theatre, it helps to create millions of more fans for this artform as friends and families come to see these students perform.” Cynthia A. Ripley and Marty Johnson are also lead authors of the book.
The iTheatrics team interviewed hundreds of educators from different types of theatre programs across the U.S., and highlights of these conversations are also featured throughout the text.
For more information on iTheatrics and The iTheatrics Method, visit iTheatrics.com.
