playbill vip

Thank you for joining us for L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furbers' Me and My Girl. Me and My Girl is 100% about bringing absolute joy to all who see it. One of the most celebrated musicals of all time, Me and My Girl is sweet, uncomplicated, innocent, and heart-warming and that is pricisely why I wanted to direct it in 2017. Please join us in recreating a simpler and sweeter time and be ready to leave your cynicism at the door!

A Broadway trivia quiz for you: Which of the following musicals ran the longest on The Great White Way: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Funny Girl, The King And I, Cabaret, Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate, The Pajama Game, or Me And My Girl? You may actually be astonished by the answer…The hit musical Me and My Girl tops them all running on Broadway for 3 years and snagging 3 of 11 Tony nominations.

Me and My Girl at McCallum Fine Arts Academy is a celebration of what we do here at McCallum Fine Arts Academy. It represents the #powerofmac as I like to say. At this performance you are seeing a student cast, crew, and orchestra of 100 young people come together unselfishly in the optimistic spirit of Broadway at a time, perhaps, when a lack of cynicism and selfishness are much needed. Our dancers have been taking weekly tap lessons on Saturdays since the start of the school year to ensure that we present the show true to its original form with big dance numbers throughout, our student costumers have designed, sewn, and gathered hundreds of 1930s-style costumes, our student scenic designers have designed and constructed a parade of full-stage locales for this Broadway-sized spectacle. Our student lighting designer has programmed dozens of lighting cues and unique transitions to keep the show flowing smoothly and our student property department has added those finishing touches and last looks all in an effort to transport you to a fantasy world where anything is possible!

Me and My Girl at McCallum Fine Arts Academy also marks a moment in the 22 years since McCullum received official Fine Arts Academy designation from AISD when the theatre program specifically is genuinely thriving. I am so grateful that my predecessor M. Scott Tatum embraced the spirit of innovation. M. Scott paved the way for the construction of the wonderful facility that you find yourselves in and also the construction of the theatre curriculum as it operates today. Because of the structure that I inherited from Scott we have been able to attract top tier Theatre faculty with impressive professional and university pedigrees- all graduates from highly-respected university training programs such as NYU, Marymount Manhattan Conservatory, Yale, University of Texas at Austin, and Wright State University. I also must express my gratitude to our Principal Michael Garrison who allows the Theatre faculty to co-teach musical theatre together resulting in a rich academic musical theatre experience for our students. Many people don’t know this, but because of M. Scott’s innovation McCallum was one the first high schools in Texas to offer Musical Theatre as an academic course. As a result, McCallum now offers the Musical Theatre Performance Certificate in addition to its major concentrations in acting, and technical theatre- this is very unique at the high school level with even the most established performing arts schools not offering the ability to specialize in musical theatre training. What a time to be a Theatre major at McCallum Fine Arts Academy!