ArtsPower's twofold mission is to provide young people, many for the very first time, with the unforgettable opportunity to experience the transporting power of outstanding theatre that entertains, stimulates, and educates; and to enhance “character education” among young people by creating theatre that fosters sound moral development, encourages self-expression, ignites the desire to read, and advances their development as productive members of society.

Celebrating our 24th anniversary in 2009, ArtsPower is one of America’s preeminent nonprofit producers and presenters of professional theatre for young and family audiences. With over 1,000 performances annually, ArtsPower has amassed an audience of nearly nine million people in 47 states.

Since our start in 1985, ArtsPower has created 24 original musicals and dramas, many of which are based on highly-respected books for young readers including: E.L. Konigsburg’s Newbery Medal-winning book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; Paula Danzinger’s Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon; Patricia Reilly Giff’s Newbery Medal Honor Book, Lily’s Crossing; Marcus Pfister’s The Rainbow Fish, winner of the 1995 American Bookseller Children’s Book of the Year Award; Harry the Dirty Dog; Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik; Judy Blume’s Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great; Are You My Mother?, based on P.D. Eastman’s classic picture book; Anne L. Fox’s My Heart in a Suitcase; Four Score and Seven Years Ago; Anne of Green Gables; Hans Brinker’s Christmas; Olympic Spirit: The Jesse Owens Story; Laura Ingalls Wilder; Salem Justice; and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. Patricia Reilly Giff’s Fish Face, Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline and the Bad Hat, and Lois Lowry’s The Silent Boy are ArtsPower’s newest productions. ArtsPower’s dance production, Dance Asia, features two of China’s most celebrated dancers, Qi Shu Fang and Ding Mei Kui.

ArtsPower has performed in more than 350 regional theatres, cultural centers, and university auditoriums throughout America including: The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; New York City’s Lincoln Center; The Annenberg Center for the Arts in Philadelphia; New Jersey Performing Arts Center; Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey; Orange County Performing Arts Center in California; The Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale; Veterans Memorial Hall in Providence; Shea Performing Arts Center in Buffalo; Detroit's Music Hall; Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater; The Wharton Center for the Arts in East Lansing; Tuscaloosa's Bama Theatre; and The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage.

ArtsPower is led by Founding Co-Directors Gary W. Blackman and Mark A. Blackman. Greg Gunning serves as Artistic Director and resident playwright. The administrative staff is comprised of: Andrea Bergman, Program Assistant; Karen Bibbo, Company Manager; Beth Fylstra, General Manager; Julie Kvoriak, Finance Assistant; and Anne Moisan, Box Office Assistant; Kim Wood, Booking Coordinator. Richard DeRosa, Composer and Orchestrator, and Fred Sorrentino, Costumer, join Greg Gunning to comprise ArtsPower’s creative team. Our sets are built by Tom Carroll Studios.

ArtsPower has received generous support from numerous corporate, foundation, and government sources including: New Jersey State Council on the Arts; Nash Family Foundation; Edith Glick Shoolman Foundation; Bank of America; Horizon Foundation; The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation; Colgate-Palmolive; Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund; Shubert Foundation; Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation; The Montclair Foundation; Actors’ Equity Foundation; The Kindertransport Association; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; as well as many valued individual donors.

Testimonials

“Greg Gunning’s adaptation of my book, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, is fabulous (and that’s coming from the author!). I’ve seen the show several times and I always cry at the end, remembering how much I loved the first musical I saw on stage, when I was nine. I know there are kids in today’s audiences who will come away feeling the same magic. I can’t thank ArtsPower enough for bringing for bringing fine musical theatre to young people. Congratulations Gary and Mark on ArtsPower’s 20th Anniversary!” Judy Blume Recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Outstanding Literature for Young Adults and author of Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great.

“The process of having From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler translated into the language of music was a joy. So is the product. Bravo ArtsPower on 20 years of page-to-stage success!” E.L. Konigsburg Two-time Newbery Medal Winner and author of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

“I was familiar with the book – I’d written it, after all! So, I was astonished that when watching the dress rehearsal of Greg Gunning’s adaptation of Anastasia Krupnik, I found myself choked up. What a wonderful thing: to have your own material presented in a way that makes it new and fresh and moving, even to the original author! And second-best to that was watching it in an actual performance and seeing the rapt, enthusiastic reaction of the young people in the audience. I give ArtsPower my personal, individual standing ovation.” Lois Lowry Two-time Newbery Medal Winner and author of Anastasia Krupnik.

“How wonderful to see the characters I had dreamed about, worried about, and written about in Lily’s Crossing on the stage. I watched audiences of children as entranced by the ArtsPower play as I was. I thank everyone at ArtsPower with full heart and wish Gary and Mark Blackman twenty-times-twenty years more to captivate all of us.” Patricia Reilly Giff Two-time Newbery Medal Honor Book Winner and author of Lily’s Crossing.