2025-26 Application

Add a little magic to your classroom through Disney Musicals in Schools!

Disney Musicals in Schools presented by Dee and Jimmy Haslam is a FREE professional development program and outreach initiative for grades 3–5, that develops sustainable musical theater programs for eligible Cuyahoga, Lake, and Lorain County elementary schools.

Four schools will be selected to participate in the 2025-2026 program, FREE of charge. Any Cuyahoga, Lake, or Lorain County public elementary school, including public charter schools, with a student poverty level of 50% or higher (according to the Ohio Department of Education’s 2013 Typology Report) is eligible to apply. Additionally, if your school was an active member of the Disney Musicals in Schools program prior to the 2019-2020 school year, and you have not restarted your program since that time, you are eligible to apply as a new year-one school.

Disney Musicals in Schools presents a special opportunity to introduce the collaborative art of musical theater to your school, strengthen your arts programming, and develop partnerships among students, faculty, staff and the greater community.

Applications for 2025-26 are open!

Please be sure to thoroughly read the information on this webpage before applying. If you have questions about the application or your school’s eligibility, contact Youth Outreach Programs Supervisor, Katelyn Merold at Katelyn.Merold@playhousesquare.org.

The goals of Disney Musicals in Schools

1. Create sustainable musical theatre programs in public elementary schools.
2. Provide school faculty with the training and tools necessary to support student performance and production, and to empower them to do so.
3. Develop a critical awareness and appreciation of the arts within the school.
4. Develop a strong community, including students, parents, faculty, staff, and neighbors.
5. Expose students and school faculty to the wide spectrum of skills that are developed when producing a piece of musical theatre, including critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence, and interpersonal skills.

What is Disney Musicals in Schools?

Disney Musicals in Schools is an after-school professional development and outreach program, designed to help underserved schools produce a 30-minute Disney musical at your school with students in grades 3 – 5 with the help of weekly Playhouse Square’s Disney-trained teaching artist visits and materials, at no cost to your school.

The program began at Disney Theatrical Group in New York City in 2009 and was established to create sustainable theater programs in under-resourced public elementary schools. Over 500 schools across the US and the UK have participated in this program since its inception, 31 of those schools in the Greater Cleveland Area through Playhouse Square. Playhouse Square has been a proud producer of Disney Musicals in Schools since 2015.

By providing free performance materials and free professional development to participating teachers, Disney Musicals in Schools has helped schools inspire the next generation of diverse storytellers, artists and audiences.

Selected schools will receive:

• Free performance rights (valid for one year) to a 30-minute Disney KIDS musical of your choice! Available titles include:
  • 101 Dalmatians
  • Aladdin
  • The Aristocats
  • Finding Nemo
  • Frozen
  • The Jungle Book
  • The Lion King
  • Winnie the Pooh
• Free “ShowKit” materials, including a director’s handbook guide, student scripts, online links to all choreography and music videos and tracks, and cross-curricular activities.
• Free in-school support from a team of two Playhouse Square Disney-Trained Teaching Artists
  • Two, 90-minute afterschool rehearsals are required every week for 19 weeks. Playhouse Square Teaching Artists attend one of these two rehearsals per week, while your team of teachers run the second rehearsal each week.
  • The Teaching Artists will serve as production and creative advisors who during this time will train and empower your School Team to run the program independently by the end of the 19-weeks.
  • The Playhouse Square Teaching Artists will guide your School Team through both production management (developing a rehearsal schedule, running auditions, and addressing technical and physical production requirements) and the creative execution of the show (direction, choreography, acting, and design). They will also advise your School Team on school and community engagement opportunities to support your production.
  • Disney KIDS Musicals are designed to be produced on any budget. Playhuse Square Teaching Artists will work with your School Team to create a production within the budget your school is able to allocate to this project.
• Finally, our four selected Disney schools will present one musical number from their respective productions in a culminating “Student Share Celebration” at Playhouse Square. This year’s Student Share will take place on March 10, 2025, and we encourage new applicants to join us! Please contact Katelyn Merold (Katelyn.Merold@playhousesquare.org) for details on how to RSVP!

Schools will be expected to:

• Identify a School Team comprising at least four teachers and staff members who will partner with the Playhouse Square Teaching Artists and oversee and manage the program from beginning to end. The selected School Team will receive on-site support from a team of two Playhouse Square Teaching Artists who will visit the school for a 90-minute rehearsal once each week for 19 weeks. The School Team will run a second 90-minute rehearsal once each week (those same 19 weeks) without the presence of the Teaching Artists.
• Have the whole School Team, and Principal, available for a Show Selection and Paperwork Meeting with a Playhouse Square Administrator the week of September 22, 2025. Exact meeting date and time TBD, when all four Year 1 schools have been selected. Playhouse Square will come to you!
• Produce a 30-minute Disney “KIDS” musical of your choice from the titles listed on page 2, involving 3rd-5th graders who will participate both onstage as performers and offstage, providing backstage support.
• Commit to a full semester of rehearsal /production in an after-school setting (see timeline on following page).
• Host a site visit at your school for Playhouse Square’s “selection team,” who will visit your School Team during the application process.
• Provide space, time, materials, and resources for students and the School Team to rehearse and prepare for the musical production.
• Respond to all Playhouse Square correspondence in a timely manner.
• Provide opportunities for the whole school, parents, and larger community to be supportive of the production.
• Hold a minimum of one public performance of your musical.
• Participate in the culminating “Student Share” event at Playhouse Square on March 9, 2026. Playhouse Square will provide transportation reimbursement for participating schools.

Timeline of REQUIRED Events: 

Application Links: