Culture on My Mind
The Impact of Theatre Education
May 26, 2023

This week, I’m back to the performing arts with the Theater and Musical Lovers YouTube Channel.

The channel and its associated Facebook group were established as an unofficial gathering of Dragon Con attendees who love theater, musicals, and the performing arts. Their goal is to create a community of fellow thespians and fans at the convention. This time, they took on education.

“Learning is about much more than science and math. Doing theater, music, and art in school really helps children’s minds grow because they’re using different parts of their brains. Parents who care should insist on that.”

– Julie Taymour

Theater is often thought of as a hobby and relegated to the sides of education that are considered less important than math, science, and other technical fields. On May 16th, Gary Mitchel and Sarah Rose were joined by educators who disagree with that assessment and they discussed why theatre education is important in today’s world, the lasting impacts it makes, and why we all should encourage more arts education in schools and communities.

This panel’s guests included Jennifer Simmons, Primetime Steve, Alicia, and Charles Pillsbury III. 

Note: Depending on security settings, you may have to click below to see the video directly on YouTube. You should definitely subscribe to their channel for more updates.

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The Theater and Musical Lovers Group will be hosting more of these panels. If you’re interested in participating or have some topic ideas in mind, head over to the group on Facebook and drop them a line. You can also find them on Instagram and coming soon on TikTok.

You can find Gary and Sarah on the socials: On Twitter, they are Gary_Mitchel, SarahRose_KPK, and Daisuki_Suu; on Instagram, they are Gary_Mitchel and Daisuki_Suu; and Gary’s horror-themed podcast that he hosts with Erin McGourn is A Podcask of Amontillado. Of course, the Theater & Musical Lovers channel can be found on YouTube.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.