News

ArtsPower's Founding Co-Directors, Gary and Mark Blackman, discuss ArtsPower Theatre On Demand with Good Day New York hosts, Roseann Scotto and Lori Stokes.

Sounds of Broadway, a popular website devoted to playing the music of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and London’s West End, welcomed ArtsPower’s Co-Founding Director, Gary Blackman, to its July 31, 2020 podcast. Hosted by Stuart Brown, the creator of Sounds of Broadway, the podcast features: seven songs from six ArtsPower productions; a behind-the-scenes look at 35 years of producing 34 original productions and touring them to first-class theatres in 49 states for over 14 million people; the launch of ArtsPower’s new online learning initiative, ArtsPower Theatre On Demand; and lots of great discussion about the importance of bringing quality and meaningful theatre to young people and their families throughout the US.

ArtsPower National Touring Theatre began in 1985 as a grassroots production company in South Florida, primarily serving small arts communities in the South. Today, the Cedar Grove-based, nonprofit organization, tours nine productions annually nationwide. On average, a new show is added each year. The family-based productions, primarily musicals, have been staged in every state but Hawaii, according to founding co-directors Gary and Mark Blackman. It’s a highly competitive market that caters to first-run performing arts centers, along with university and school auditoriums.

ArtsPower’s premiere podcast features ArtsPower alumna Laurie Hymes. Laurie’s work with ArtsPower includes the national tours of Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great and Anastasia Krupnik, as well as the workshops of Harry the Dirty Dog and Jigsaw Jones and the Case of the Class Clown. Currently, Laurie’s voice can be heard on numerous animated series and features including three seasons on “Pokemon,” “Yu-Gi-Oh! […]

NEW YORK CITY – Alyssa Satin Capucilli, the author of the iconic series of BISCUIT books for young children, attended the dress rehearsal of ArtsPower’s musical BISCUIT on October 1^st at NOLA Studios in New York City. Alyssa’s BISCUIT books have sold more than 23 million copies throughout the world. The second national tour of ArtsPower’s musical BISCUIT, which will feature performances in regional theatres, […]

NEW YORK CITY – Mark Blackman, ArtsPower’s Founding Co-Director, performed in the pit orchestra of Broadway’s HELLO DOLLY on Saturday evening, November 11th. He played the Reed 1 book (piccolo, flute, alto saxophone, and clarinet) as a substitute for Steve Kenyon, the talented, multi-reeds performer and Broadway pit orchestra veteran. “About a year […]

NEW YORK CITY – On November 9, 10, and 11, Rich DeRosa, the Grammy-nominated composer who has written and arranged the scores to twenty-nine ArtsPower musicals and dramas, was a guest conductor for Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in performance of the five special pieces he had arranged in honor of Leonard’s Bernstein’s 100^th Birthday Celebration.

The performances took place in […]

ArtsPower National Touring Theatre began in 1985 as a grassroots production company in South Florida, primarily serving small arts communities in the South. Today, the Cedar Grove-based, nonprofit organization, tours nine productions annually nationwide. On average, a new show is added each year. The family-based productions, primarily musicals, have been staged in every state but Hawaii, according to founding co-directors Gary and Mark Blackman. It’s a highly competitive market that caters to first-run performing arts centers, along with university and school auditoriums.

June 2017: ArtsPower’s Anne of Green Gables, one of our most popular musicals originally produced in 1993, recently completed its national tour. Between March 20^th and June 11^th, the wonderfully talented cast of Jocelyn Lonquist (Anne), Christine Corsaro (Marilla Cuthbert), Amanda Popielarz (Rachel Lynde), and Adam Moshbach (Matthew Cuthbert). Shelby Glasgow was the cast’s stage manager. The show presented performances in 30 theatres throughout 12 […]

May 2017: ArtsPower’s The Monster Who Ate My Peas, based on the book by Danny Schnitzlein, had a successful 12-state tour this past spring that featured the dynamic cast of Leigh Akin (Mom),  Henry DuRocher (Dad), Jamie Dillon Grossman (Ralph), and  Missy Michael Jamieson (Danny). Allen B. Wheaton served as the cast’s stage manager.