This past school year, director, educator and a Stage Partners favorite, Peter Royston, directed two play adaptations of The Jungle Book. His middle schoolers produced the Stage Partners Jon Jory’s adaptation and the elementary students performed the Disney musical. In this intimate essay, Peter shares his experience working on the two different adaptations and what his students took away from viewing each other’s work. 

Education Director Maria McConville offers ideas for making the auditions process a skill-building process. Get students to show you their best work through these simple tips.

Auditions can be the most nerve-wracking part of the theater process. As a theatre teacher, you want each of your students to get the part. They put themselves out there and they should be proud of the work they present. I know it can be overwhelming to see our students so stressed. Oh, the nerves! But auditions are also an opportunity for students who don’t normally participate to really shine.

Here are some tips to honor students' emotions and to give them the tools to apply for college and beyond.

• Set a clear standard. Provide students with the rubric of what you are looking for in their audition. Do they need to be off book? Do they need to show their ability to project? To hit that high

And just like that, another summer break has come and gone. They don’t seem long enough, do they? I always find the beginning of a new school year to be quite exciting, though. There is so much possibility and potential.

Your approach to the first few weeks of class or residency can set the tone for the rest of year. How will you introduce this group to the ideas of theatre? How will you begin to guide them to trusting

 Stage Partners Education Director, Maria McConville, sat down with director and teacher Peter Royston between productions, to chat about why theatre is the BEST teaching tool there is, bar none. He was fresh off his production of A Wrinkle in Time and had plenty to share...

(And check out he 5 FREE LESSON PLANS we commissioned him to develop for A Wrinkle in Time stage adaptations...)

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MARIA: After working off-Broadway, what brought your focus to connecting the professional theatre to theatre education?

PETER: Theatre’s in my blood, I can’t get enough of it, and I’ve always wanted to share

Stage Partners Education Director, Maria McConville, chats with Katie Miller, the Education Director for NYC’s Theater For a New Audience. They discuss student writing, encouraging the less courageous, and even share a game. 

MARIA: I’ve had the great fortune to work with NYC public school students on playwriting through the "New Voices" program at Theater For a New Audience. Before starting a residency, there's a great deal of planning with the teaching artist

Stage Partners Education Director, Maria McConville, got a chance to catch the Fresh Professor, James Miles, between classes to hear about his love of collaborating with teachers, how the arts are the “main ingredient” to a student's day and about why you should attend the Arts In Education Roundtable Face to Face Conference in NYC this April. 

MARIA: In your experience, and you have taught all over the place, how has Arts Education changed? Anything we should bring back? What are we doing right?

JAMES: When I first starting working in arts education, I worked mostly in after school, as did most of the teaching artists that I met. Over the years, I have seen arts integration happen more frequently, so that the arts are not just an afterthought; they are the main ingredient. I see more and teachers recognize the power of the arts in educating and engaging young people. There is still arts for arts sake, but as