Carefully Taught: Teaching Musical Theatre with Matty and Kikau

Matty and Kikau look at the world of Musical Theatre TikTok, and have conversations about how this technology can be used in our classrooms.

Jessica Humphrey (@jmhumphrey1) from Texas Christian University talks about ways she uses TikTok in the classroom.  

Co-creator of Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, Daniel Mertzlufft (@danieljmertzlufft), discusses his relationship with the app and ways it can be shaping the future of Musical Theatre.

Don't forget to follow Matty, the musical theatre professor, on TikTok (@Teaguemill)!

Music provided by Joshua Hegg 

Matty and Kikau speak to the amazing Kristy Cates this week. Hear her talk about balancing family with Broadway and teaching obligations! We chat about international students and New York Film Academy's new BFA programs. At the end of the show Kristy recommends the books 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield, '50 Key Stage Musicals' edited by Robert W. Schneider and Shannon Agnew, and the instagram account of self-care and mental health educator, @minaa_b! 

Kristy Cates’s credits include Elphaba in Wicked (Broadway, First National Tour, Chicago), Miss Bassett in Finding Neverland (Broadway), Grandma Josephine in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Broadway), Jerry Springer: the Opera (Carnegie Hall), a handful of off-Broadway shows, and many regional productions. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Kristy is an original member of the NYFA Musical Theatre faculty and is a professional voiceover artist.

Matty and Kikau discuss summer adventures and getting back to school. We are excited to be back for semester 3 of our podcast and look forward to hearing from you! Follow us @carefullytaughtpodcast! 

Here is a LINK to Matty's latest project: The Music of Tomorrow, an afternoon of new music from the next generation of Broadway composers. 

Matty and Kikau wrap up semester two with a vacation check-in and a discussion about each of the amazing guests they had the opportunity to connect with this season! 

We are so thankful to our guests: Marty Austin Lamar, Chris Peterson, Aaron J. Albano, Drew Boudreau, Laura Enstall, Leo Ash Evans, Kaitlin Hopkins, Laura Rikard, Jodi Picoult, Timothy Allen McDonald, Kate Anderson, Elyssa Samsel, Sally Cade Holmes, and Amanda Flynn. 

We are also thankful to our audience. Please let us know what you think of the podcast by rating, reviewing, and sharing with folks you think will enjoy it. Send us an email at [email protected] OR a message @carefullytaughtpodcast on instagram. 

Thank you all. See you in the Fall! 

Amanda Flynn is  a “performer turned vocal technician who loves helping people achieve vocal success.”

Amanda is currently on the musical theatre voice faculty at Pace University. She performed in two Broadway shows and her first book, So You Want to Sing Musical Theatre, Revised and Expanded Edition is about to be released. It will be available everywhere on June 15th. 

She also works as a vocal coach and consultant for Broadway shows (The Lightning Thief, Be More Chill) Off-Broadway shows (The Lightning Thief), films (Encanto, One Year Off, BEAU) as well as theatre companies in the NYC area (Two River Theatre, TheatreworksUSA, iTheatrics). 

Amanda's Recommendation: Teaching Race: How to Help Students Unmask and Challenge Racism 

Her Broadway producing credits include Hadestown (Tony Award), The Inheritance (Tony Award / GLAAD Media Award), Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Tony nomination), and Anastasia. Her Off-Broadway credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Drama Desk, Drama League & Outer Critics Circle Awards) and Puffs. Past credits include Nubia (featuring the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race), Boy Gets Violent (Ars Nova's AntFest), Summer Valley Fair (New York Musical Theatre Festival), Ryan J. Haddad's Hi, Are You Single (2015 Hot! Festival and 2016 Under The Radar) and Here’s Hoover (directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers).

Music provided by Joshua Hegg

Matty and Kikau sit down with the creators of the new must see Off-Broadway musical BETWEEN THE LINES, including New York Times Best Selling Author Jodi Picoult (@jodipicoult), the composer/lyricists Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson (@samselanderson), and co-writer Timothy Allen McDonald (@timmcdonaldnyc).  Between the Lines opens for a limited engagement beginning June 14th at 2nd Stage's Tony Kiser Theater.  For more information visit www.betweenthelinesmusical.com.

Picoult is best known as a prolific novelist.  She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page.

Samsel and Anderson met in 2010 in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater writing workshop. Since then, they’ve gone on to work with Disney Animation, Tony Award winner producer Daryl Roth, and many major studios in Hollywood. They are both classically trained musicians who share a passion for female forward stories, comedy, and true storytelling through song.  Composers and lyricists for Disney's Olaf's Frozen Adventure and Apple TV's Central Park.

McDonald is an award winning playwright who wrote Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, and Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.  He is also the co-founder of iTheatrics and the creator of Music Theatre International's Education Division.

Music Provided by Joshua Hegg.  For More information visit JoshuaHeggMusic.com

Matty and Kikau were very excited to speak to Laura Rikard (she/her) this week. She is one the of the co-founders of Theatrical Intimacy Education! Laura and TIE co-founder, Chelsea Pace (A Strange Loop and Resident Intimacy Consultant and Choreographer) have literally written the book on the topic, Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy. 

Laura Rikard (SAG-AFTRA/AEA) She is a director, actor, teacher, stage movement specialist, intimacy choreographer, intimacy coordinator, and a founding member and head faculty of Theatre Intimacy Education. She is Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Laura has worked in film and television in NYC, regionally, on national tours, internationally and devised solo performance productions.

Here is a LINK to all of the exciting workshops they offer.