How Launching a School Theater Program Transformed Las Vegas Students
Elementary Schools Create Sustainable Theater Programs with The Smith Center’s Disney Musicals in Schools Initiative
“I have seen the growth in these children in so many ways this year...It creates critical thinkers.”
-Rebecca Anderson, Participating Teacher
Disney Musicals in Schools is a free program offered to a limited number of public elementary schools each year. Through the program, schools receive free performance rights and ShowKit materials to a 30-minute Disney musical written for elementary school performers. Over the course of a semester, professional teaching artists guide school teachers through the process of mounting a musical with student performers. The goal of Disney Musicals in Schools is to provide the training necessary for teachers to continue a tradition of theater education for years to come.
The Smith Center is proud to be included in the network of 26 theaters and performing arts centers across the U.S. and U.K. offering this inspiring program. To participate in The Smith Center’s Disney Musicals in Schools program, interested schools must submit an application. Schools eligible for participation will have 75% or more of their students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Price Lunch program, or be a designated CEP site.
Please contact the Education and Outreach Department with questions regarding participation in this program.
Lois Craig Elementary School
Claude H. & Stella M. Parson Elementary School
William Snyder Elementary School
Joseph Thiriot Elementary School
Ed Von Tobel Middle School
Gene Ward Elementary School
Learn more about Disney Musicals in Schools at www.disneymusicalsinschools.com.

How Launching a School Theater Program Transformed Las Vegas Students
Elementary Schools Create Sustainable Theater Programs with The Smith Center’s Disney Musicals in Schools Initiative
How Musical Theater Changed a Las Vegas School and Its Students
Rosa Crumpley first performed on stage at The Smith Center in just third grade. Side by side in handmade costumes, she and her fellow students from Walter Bracken STEAM Academy performed a song-and-dance number from their elementary school’s very first musical production, “Disney’s The Jungle Book KIDS.”
Vegas Student Finds Joy in Theater After Lifelong Health Issues
As assistant principal with Richard J. Rundle Elementary School in Las Vegas, Stacey Sly felt true pride watching students perform the school’s second-ever theater production this spring. But seeing her 9-year-old daughter Lissa among them raised her reaction to pure astonishment.