When the news brings you down...

Yesterday, my family visited a local historic site. As we approached the visitor center, a little girl held the door open for us. She couldn’t have been more than six years old. Her younger sister had already gone inside, and their father stood patiently behind her. I smiled and said, “Thank you, honey. You can follow your sister.” But she insisted on waiting until we had all walked through.

This morning, as I read the news—most of it grim—I found myself thinking about that little girl, and it brightened my day.

There’s little most of us can do to fix all the world’s problems, but teaching children is a powerful antidote. In general, kids want to do good. All we need to do is encourage them and give them the tools to act with compassion.

If you direct children’s musicals, you’re in a unique position. You have the opportunity to teach more than just performance skills—you can teach kindness.

You may already run team-building activities or emphasize that a successful show relies on every cast member, not just the lead. That’s fantastic. But you can go a step further.

Choose productions with well-rounded characters who grow and learn. Talk with your cast about those character arcs and how they reflect real life. Then, give your students simple ways to practice kindness offstage—whether it’s writing thank-you notes, supporting each other behind the scenes, or doing something for the community as a group.

This doesn’t require a lot of extra time, but it transforms your show into something bigger. Your cast won’t just bond over their performance—they’ll bond over the difference they’ve made together.
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Thank goodness for little girls who hold the door open. Children like her remind me that there is still so much good in the world. They give me hope.

Diane Beckstead

Diane Beckstead is a composer and founder of Musicals for Change, a publishing company producing quality kid's musicals which partner with nonprofits to teach kids empathy and the power of their own voices. 
​https://www.musicalsforchange.com/