Experience Musical Theater
Our Widely Produced Original Musicals
Every year we create an original musical, written for the Garden Players kids, inspired by the events and stories around us. Five of our musicals have been published and performed in over 1,500 productions in 65 countries and nearly every U.S. state including the NYC Broadway Musical Theater Festival. These musicals are published and available at Beat by Beat Press. Our musical We Are Monsters (published by Beat by Beat Press, written by Betina Hershey and Denver Casado) has even been mentioned by Tony-nominated Broadway actor Patrick Meyers on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
“I love the experience, seeing everything come together, from just seeing the script to being all memorized and on cue. When we make mistakes we can laugh together. It’s a fun second family.” – Caitlin
“I’ve been in Garden Players for 6 years. I used to be really shy but it’s really helped me speak up.” – Amelia
Kids love Garden Players!
In their own words
at Garden Players say they: “Find a community of friends” “Learn to be brave” “Step into the spotlight.” “Theater spreads messages.” “The show looks like Broadway.” “It’s a really good way to socialize.” “Be onstage, learn how to practice, use techniques to become a professional actress.” “Betina never gives up and understands your mistakes.” “The class is really hard but that’s good because then students get even better!” “This is my future. I can express who I actually am. Whenever I perform I show the optimistic version of myself.” “If you’re feeling nervous, remember, everybody out there has come to see you. It’s your night!”
Book writer, lyricist, director Betina Hershey and composer Sunny Knable talk about how they created their recent Garden Players original musical and share some highlights from Magic It Up 2019:
The first semester our classes work on acting improvisations, working towards making big choices, trusting their instincts, working together as a group, and using their imaginations.
Our Benefit Concert is usually held in January, and the students have 3 rehearsals only to prepare… an exciting and invigorating process. We have done concerts concentrating on Beetles songs, 1920’s jazz, and more. This video is from a year when the students performed a concert version of The Noble Gnarble, a 20 minute musical based on the childrens book of the same name. It’s incredible how much material they learned in just 3 hour long classes!
The second semester the group puts on a fully staged and costumed original musical to packed houses. More than 5 musicals have gone on to be published by Beat By Beat Press and then performed all over the world. Here is the full experience of our 2017 premiere of Your Turn, A Superhero Musical!
Switch It Off…
May 2017. What are the real benefits of musical theater? How do kids feel about themselves when they put on a show? Sara of Little Comb Productions interviewed some of the Garden Players actors. Here is what they have to say.
What If? Dress Rehearsal & Interviews... Take a look at this 15 minute documentary with a back stage view of what we do, hearing from the actors, director, musical director, and more.