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NBC's 'SMASH' MAKE A MUSICAL, School #13 - Sharpstown High School, Houston
NBC's 'SMASH' MAKE A MUSICAL, School #13 - Sharpstown High School, Houston
By Cindy Ripley on March 01, 2012
School #13: Sharpstown High School
Houston, TX
Reported by: Marty Johnson, Director of Education, iTheatrics
February 3, 2012
I wish I could capture, bottle and market the excitement at Sharpstown High School as the students and teachers started their NBC’s ‘SMASH’ MAKE A MUSICAL journey. Every participating school is thrilled to be included, but there is an energy in Houston that is palpable.
The feeling starts the moment you walk through the entrance of the school and see a large ‘Smash’ poster right outside the main office. Inside the office, you are greeted by two more posters. Then as you walk to the auditorium, the walls in the hallway are alternately covered with ‘Smash’ posters and college pennants. The future is there for everyone to see. It starts this spring with the school's first musical, and it will continue when the students go off to college in the fall.
The excitement grows when you meet the team who will be responsible for the musical, Brenda Corral-Smith and Julio Morales. Mrs. Corral-Smith is the band teacher at the school and a new mom. (Congratulations!!) She already gives up her lunch period and stays after school to teach band lessons and now she says she is thrilled at the opportunity to spend even more time at school for musical rehearsals. Mr. Morales, a first year drama teacher, actually graduated from Sharpstown High School before heading off to college to get his teaching degree. When he went to Sharpstown there was no musical theater program, so he had to wait to college to discover the world of musical theater. And now that he has found it, he can't wait to share it with his students.
When the kids arrive, the energy grows. A mixture of 25 drama, band, and color guard students come and sit center stage and can't wait to get to work. They are all doing well in their classes and have shown an aptitude for the arts, but they have never been in a musical before. They don't know exactly what it entails, but they are ready to give it a try. Their enthusiasm grows throughout the acting and dancing activities.
But it finally explodes when they begin to learn a song. There isn't a choir at Sharpstown, so the joys of choral singing are new to these students. And the realization they are good at it has clearly ignited a fire within them. They are ready for rehearsals to begin today.
“NBC’s ‘Smash’: Make A Musical” program is administered by iTheatrics under the supervision of Timothy Allen McDonald. For more information, or to apply to become a part of the program, logon to www.MAKEAMUSICAL.ORG.
Houston, TX
Reported by: Marty Johnson, Director of Education, iTheatrics
February 3, 2012
I wish I could capture, bottle and market the excitement at Sharpstown High School as the students and teachers started their NBC’s ‘SMASH’ MAKE A MUSICAL journey. Every participating school is thrilled to be included, but there is an energy in Houston that is palpable.The feeling starts the moment you walk through the entrance of the school and see a large ‘Smash’ poster right outside the main office. Inside the office, you are greeted by two more posters. Then as you walk to the auditorium, the walls in the hallway are alternately covered with ‘Smash’ posters and college pennants. The future is there for everyone to see. It starts this spring with the school's first musical, and it will continue when the students go off to college in the fall.
The excitement grows when you meet the team who will be responsible for the musical, Brenda Corral-Smith and Julio Morales. Mrs. Corral-Smith is the band teacher at the school and a new mom. (Congratulations!!) She already gives up her lunch period and stays after school to teach band lessons and now she says she is thrilled at the opportunity to spend even more time at school for musical rehearsals. Mr. Morales, a first year drama teacher, actually graduated from Sharpstown High School before heading off to college to get his teaching degree. When he went to Sharpstown there was no musical theater program, so he had to wait to college to discover the world of musical theater. And now that he has found it, he can't wait to share it with his students.When the kids arrive, the energy grows. A mixture of 25 drama, band, and color guard students come and sit center stage and can't wait to get to work. They are all doing well in their classes and have shown an aptitude for the arts, but they have never been in a musical before. They don't know exactly what it entails, but they are ready to give it a try. Their enthusiasm grows throughout the acting and dancing activities.But it finally explodes when they begin to learn a song. There isn't a choir at Sharpstown, so the joys of choral singing are new to these students. And the realization they are good at it has clearly ignited a fire within them. They are ready for rehearsals to begin today.
So although energy and excitement can't be bottled and sold, it sure can be contagious and found in overwhelming abundance in Houston, TX.
“NBC’s ‘Smash’: Make A Musical” program is administered by iTheatrics under the supervision of Timothy Allen McDonald. For more information, or to apply to become a part of the program, logon to www.MAKEAMUSICAL.ORG.
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