I live just ten minutes or so from Sandy Hook, CT and the elementary school where the Sandy Hook shootings took place.
It was a tragedy that affected everyone across the country.
It devastated the town of Newtown.
But it also did something else.
It brought the community closer.
And a couple of pretty amazing things came out of it.
One of those things is the 1214 Foundation.
The 1214 Foundation has a theater group called NewArts. NewArts uses the performing arts to promote healing and strength and help those affected by the events of 12/14, and is producing its sixth and seventh shows for its summer, 2016 season.
These shows incorporate nearly 200 children from the Newtown area onstage, backstage and in the orchestra as a continuation of its mission to use the performing arts to promote healing, strength and personal development.
NewArts also has some serious pros working on these productions — 20 theatre professionals including Broadway-level directors, choreographers, music directors, designers, producers, and technicians to guide the children in this endeavor of creativity, collaboration and community.
These shows are no joke, and this summer there are two of them!
The first is School of Rock. (One of Number 4’s best friends is in it).
So many kids are helped by these productions.
But what I want really want to share with you is a blog post written by Nicole Kolitas, a 13-year-old who has performed in four NewArts productions.
NewArts Newtown musicals have been a huge part of my life for four summers now. It has made me a better performer and a better person. After the Newtown tragedy, I lived a life ruled by Fear. I didn’t want to go to school; really I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was terrified of what may happen. My mother had worked at Sandy Hook Elementary at the time and I didn’t want her to go to work, afraid that it wasn’t over. I had a prayer shawl that I wrapped myself in 24/7, because I believed that the only thing that could protect me was the prayers of the people who made it.
My fear tightened its grip when my mother and father were both diagnosed with cancer only months after the tragedy. I went to therapy session after therapy session, but I was too well acquainted with this cruel world that we lived in to go back to being myself.
My mother told me that Broadway professionals were holding auditions for a musical to benefit the children affected by the Newtown tragedy. I had always loved performing in musicals, and I had something that I hadn’t had for a while. Hope. I wanted to be a part of it, thinking that I may be back to myself again. I was cast as Jojo in Seussical, and I was ecstatic! The audition process was reassuring that the summer would be a fun and safe environment.
Then, as rehearsals started, Fear kept its bony fingers on my wrist. I knew nobody but my sister, and had never been good at making friends. I then began to branch out and talk to my cast mates. The connection we shared was incredible. We were all brought there by a common cause, and we were there for each other. I will always remember, one day, we were rehearsing a scene where Horton was trying to find the Whos after having lost them. Michael Unger, our director told the actors sharing the role of Horton that Whoville was Newtown. Newtown had been let down once, now we needed to be found, to be saved. The cast cried together as we remembered why we were there.
I believe that NewArts has found Newtown and saved it by bringing joy and a sense of community to, not only those in the shows, but those who were in the audience. I have learned so much, not only as a performer, but as a person. My family has expanded and gotten closer every summer. I love these people more than anything in the world and they have truly changed me for the better. I never went back to how I was. I came out of Seussical as a new person, a person that grows every summer. I still get scared. Fear still whispers in my ear and grabs my hand. But I now have the skills to tell Fear that I’m okay, and that I can handle whatever comes my way. Because of NewArts, I can do anything. I can perform in front of thousands of people, I can solve my own problems, I can evaluate myself and find my strengths, and I can tell Fear goodbye.
Wow.
NewArts is such a gift for children and for the community.
And they have given me a gift for you!
I have four tickets to each School of Rock performance to give away. Four for Friday, August 5th at 7 pm, four tickets for Saturday, August 6th at 7 pm and four for Sunday, August 7th at 3 pm.
Entry to win tickets is simple.
For each of the following actions you complete, you will receive one entry:
- share this post on Facebook using the hashtag #newartsnewtown ((2 entries for this one)
- comment ON THE FACEBOOK POST “I WANT TICKETS TO SCHOOL OF ROCK!”
- comment on the post itself “I WANT TICKETS TO SCHOOL OF ROCK!”
- retweet this post
Winners for each performance will be chosen at 7 pm the night before, and will have 30 minutes to claim their tickets before a new winner is chosen.
Don’t win the tickets?
That’s okay. You can still get your own and support an amazing and life changing organization.
School of Rock, Youth Production, is the newly released for licensing version of the hit Broadway show currently running at the Winter Garden Theater in Manhattan. The NewArts performance will feature Dante Melucci, the original child actor drummer “Freddie” from the Broadway production, in the orchestra. The show will be performed on August 5that 7PM, August 6th at 2PM and 7PM and August 7th at 3PM.
The second production is the classic The Wizard of Oz, featuring two casts (“Tornado” and “Twister”). The “Tornado” cast will perform August 11th at 7PM, August 13th at 7PM and August 14th at 2:30PM. The “Twister” cast will perform August 12th at 7PM, August 13th at 2PM and August 14th at 7:30PM.
Mark your calendars.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and it will be better than Cats.
Two great shows for one incredible cause.
(And if you don’t live in the area, and haven’t paid it forward in a while, here is your chance… click here to make a donation and perform a random act of kindness).
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