#YAAPLAYSON: WITH ALAN MENKEN

KEEPING THE MUSIC PLAYING DURING COVID-19

Saturday, March 28th, would have been the day that hundreds of the DC area’s most talented and dedicated musical theatre and orchestra students lived a dream. They were set to take the stage to perform a production of Beauty & The Beast that they had been preparing for since December. Not only were they going to perform the full production to a sold-out Strathmore Music Hall, they were going to perform it with none other than the show’s legendary Oscar/Tony/Grammy-Award-Winning composer and lyricist, Alan Menken, himself.

Then COVID-19 hit, and they were forced to put this dream on pause until the postponement date, June 12. Alan Menken and YAA’s devoted staff were determined to bring a bit of hope during this dark time. So, on the same day and time the original production was set to happen, YAA hosted a Virtual Talk Back with the Broadway legend, giving over 100 of the students and their families a chance to listen and ask questions about his career, his life, and his words of wisdom.

#YAAPLAYSON: “HOME” FROM HOME

As part of #YAAPlaysOn, YAA’s response to COVID-19 to keep the music playing, we have also released this incredible video production of “Home” from Beauty and the Beast. We didn’t want all of our students’ tremendous work to go to waste while we wait until the production’s postponement date (June 12, 2020). So, we asked our YAAOrchestra, YAACompany, and YAAjunior students to record a portion of “Home” from their respective homes. This is the product of students making music in over 70 households, edited together as one - proving although we’re apart, we’re still very much united.

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