CREEDE— As children around the Valley and in Creede get ready to head back to school, the Young Audience Outreach team is also getting ready to hit the road. This amazing program has reached just over 25,000 children in more than 80 communities, bringing bilingual musical theatre to students every year for the past 37 years.
This year’s feature play is titled Best Foot Forward! El Mejor Pie Adelante! The play, book and lyrics are by Lojo Simon; Simon is extraordinarily excited to bring another production to children and families in the Valley and the Four Corners area. Simon’s other plays for young audiences include Nice & Slow, which won the Old Miner Playwriting Award and Mi Corazón, a commissioned middle-school play for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre. She also writes adult plays, which have won awards and been produced nationwide.
Best Foot Forward! El Mejor Pie Adelante! will include music by Brandon Scott Grayson and is directed by Melissa Firlit, who is a New York City-based director and teaching artist. According to her bio, “She teaches at various institutions nationwide. Her passion lies in the collaborative development of new work with playwrights. Her training includes a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, a BA in theater and a minor in music through the University of Hartford and The O’Neill National Theater Institute.”
Productions include two starring teams for the play; team pink includes Chris Carranza as Lil’ G and Becca Mighell as Sawyer and team blue which includes Reva Stover as Lil’ G and Josue Ivan Prieto as Sawyer.
According to the description, “Sawyer McNally really wants to win the ‘Dance Starz’ crown, but the competition is fierce, and ‘Lil G’ Gonzalez has all the right moves. When a storm forces the two dancers from different walks of life to get to know one another, Sawyer learns that there are more important things in life than winning. An original, bilingual musical, ‘Best Foot Forward’ exposes students to a variety of music and dance styles, promotes appreciation of differences and reinforces positive behavioral patterns.”
The Young Audience Outreach Tour’s mission is to bring high quality musical theatre to rural and underserved communities. This program annually produces an original children’s show, for grades kindergarten through sixth grade, that tours throughout the southwest.
There will be two free community performances as part of the Headwaters New Play Festival. Friday, Aug. 23 at 9 a.m. features team pink and Saturday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m., team blue hits the stage. Space is limited, so those interested who would like to attend can email Education Director Brittni Shambaugh Addison at [email protected] for more information and to reserve seats.