4/16/2019
Education and Outreach / Supporting the Arts
Thanks to donor support for The Smith Center, the nonprofit gave over 8,000 Southern Nevada students a magical experience this month introducing them to the world of Jane Goodall. It also provided many with their very first live theater experience.
4/4/2019
Education and Outreach / Family Programming
Sarah Quinn won’t soon forget the reactions of her clients with disabilities during a recent visit from illusionist Kevin Spencer at Opportunity Village. That’s because Spencer, a world-renowned artist and educator The Smith Center brought to Las Vegas in March, provided more than just magic tricks.
3/7/2019
Education and Outreach
When the curtain opened on “The Lion King” at Richard J. Rundle Elementary in February, teacher Kaylene Henderson admits the Las Vegas educators could barely recognize their own students performing complex choreography, belting musical numbers and delivering memorized lines with gusto.
11/30/2018
Education and Outreach
At Advanced Technologies Academy in Las Vegas, teacher Kevin Chung has students thinking about some unusual concepts. For instance, what is the best approach to designing a functional robot arm? And what is the key to building a vehicle powered by a mousetrap? These are just a few of the complex projects students tackle through the Science Olympiad program Mr. Chung created at his school.
11/23/2018
Education and Outreach
To say this holiday season will be full of cheer for Henderson student Benjamin Barnes is putting it lightly. Through his participation in The Smith Center’s annual Camp Broadway youth theater program, the 14-year-old has earned the opportunity to perform with a handful of other Southern Nevada youths in a festive song-and-dance routine in the 87th Hollywood Christmas Parade on November 25.
11/20/2018
Education and Outreach / Family Programming
Las Vegas resident Therese Arguelles-Luz has always wanted to take her son on the autism spectrum to a Broadway production. But for many years, she decided against doing so. “I was skeptical if he could sit and enjoy full-length performances,” Arguelles-Luz explains. She was finally able to take her son by attending The Smith Center’s very first sensory-friendly presentation of a Broadway production, Disney’s “The Lion King.”
10/22/2018
Education and Outreach / Supporting the Arts
The Union Pacific Foundation generously awarded a $25,000 grant to The Smith Center, a nonprofit organization, to support its ongoing presentations of sensory-friendly performances – including the center’s very first sensory-friendly presentation of Broadway show “The Lion King.”
9/6/2018
Education and Outreach / Community Impact
“The Smith Center has seen Disney Musicals in Schools transform students across Southern Nevada, so we’re honored that Disney chose us to take on this expanded role,” says Myron Martin, president and CEO of The Smith Center. “Helping bring musical theater programs to rural schools falls right into what we’re all about.”
8/14/2018
Education and Outreach
“I could bring my son to rehearsals, but we would never quite go to performances,” production stage manager with “The Lion King” national tour MatthewShiner says. “You never know how your child (on the autism spectrum) is going to respond.” Many families with members on the autism spectrum can understand. That’s why The Smith Center will present a special sensory-friendly performance of the production.
7/23/2018
Education and Outreach
Just a few hours before performance time at The Smith Center’s Camp Broadway, Sarah Mibulano was bubbly with anticipation. This not only marked Mibulano’s first year with Camp Broadway, it was also her first time performing in an ensemble show in this country, since her family came to America in 2015 from their native Congo.