Taylor Presnall's Education Support

When schools opened back up, we jumped at the chance to visit students and bring our educational touring productions to them. We were approved to do a small assembly for a local school, so we wrote a three-person show in 8 days. It was here that Tale of Tap was born. This show introduced students to the origins of tap dancing and the communities that built it.

As this was a small assembly, the show was strictly for TK-3rd grade students. Many of these kids, especially the TK-1st grade students, had never been in their own auditoriums let alone an assembly of other classes coming together. As one of the groups entered the auditorium, the sweetest little girl named Alli had her fists clenched shaking with excitement as she exclaimed to our cast and crew that she was “VERY EXCITED!” The tiny TK-er sat right up front and even got to go up on stage, try on the tap shoes, and imitate the noises of the dancers. Alli was beside herself with such joy.

At the end of the assembly, she came up to the Education Outreach team and told us that “this was the best day of her entire life”.

Our Educational Touring Productions, as seen with Tale of Tap, introduce every student in the audience to the joy and excitement of live theatre -- and when they have never entered their own school auditorium before, it becomes our job to make sure they never want to leave. There was such excitement in being in their seats and sharing in this arts experience together. That is the power of community and connection through theatre and what Musical Theatre West strives to bring to our patrons, students, and city every day.