"Miracle in Philadelphia" premiered in the spring of 1996. Mr. Jeff Lantos was a Marquez 5th grade teacher at the time and began writing it during jury duty (back when you had to go every day and sit in the jury room for a week). It took about six months to complete the first draft since he did so much research. He has added and subtracted a lot over the years based on what the kids remembered afterwards. One song was just added a few years ago. That's the advantage of having the writer on site. He retired in 2016 after 29 years of teaching (22 of those at Marquez!) and has returned year after year to help direct the plays and further the education of Marquez 5th graders.
UCLA conducted a study of the Marquez performing history program and their ability to retain that historical knowledge. Researchers compared Lantos' students to other students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds and found Marquez students did extraordinarily well and far outclassed their competition in history showing the benefit of putting the material to music.
