About MTW
Music Theatre Workshop (MTW) is a youth development arts organization that prepares young people to make positive life choices through the process of writing, producing, and performing original musical theatre inspired by personal stories. MTW’s productions express participants’ challenges and life experiences, their dreams and aspirations. By using performing arts to help youth find their own voices, connect to their own life stories, and learn from their peers, MTW enables them to set goals, link decisions to consequences, and develop a roadmap to success.
What MTW does:
Staffed by talented teaching artists, Music Theatre Workshop conducts ongoing multi-week programs with groups of youth who live in underserved urban neighborhoods or who are incarcerated in the juvenile justice system – where they have few opportunities to develop their gifts and talents. MTW staff adapt the program model to the setting and to participants’ needs. The model includes coaching young people through a cycle of story-writing assignments; leadership development exercises; reflections, readings, and critiques; planning sessions and rehearsals. These activities culminate in performances of a musical play built on a unified theme and story line. In this group process, participants learn writing and performance skills, achieve personal development goals, improve peer and family relationships, and acquire practical knowledge that can promote success in school, at home and, in their communities.
Where MTW works and who the organization serves:
- MTW programs take place in schools, parks, and juvenile prisons in the metro Chicago area.
- MTW participants are adolescents aged 12-20.