The Department of Creative Arts at Agnes Scott College is excited to announce that it has been awarded one of 20 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Grants in the Arts to study the effects of a musical theater production on the financial literacy of elementary school children.
The study focuses on the adaptation of key concepts about money shared in “Million Bazillion,” a podcast produced by American Public Media’s Marketplace, whose mission is to raise the economic intelligence of the country. The content from the podcast will creatively transform into messaging and narrative for the theater production, a key aspect of the research. Marketplace’s nationally syndicated daily business news and economics broadcast is heard by more than 11 million listeners on public radio stations throughout the U.S.
“I had wanted to develop a show for young audiences that used theater to help them understand important ideas, but I hadn’t considered working on a play about money and the economy until I started listening to the podcast,” Toby Emert explains. “That could be a fun challenge, I thought—to develop a musical that teaches kids about financial concepts and instills a healthy relationship with money early on.”
A world-premiere workshop production of “Million Bazillion: the Musical” will open in the Winter Theater on the campus of Agnes Scott College on February 22, 2024 with an 11AM performance specifically for local students. Additional performances will be on Friday, 2/23, at 7PM, on Saturday, 2/24 at 11AM and 2PM, and on Sunday, 2/25,…
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