San Jose Young People's Theatre

I don't usually blog about family events here, but sometimes it is important.
My children have been attending and performing at the San Jose Young People's Theatre for four years now, and it has deeply impressed me.
Carole Ferris-Greer, the program director, has created something very special in a quiet corner of the San Jose Parks and Recreation department. For 22 years she has been bringing together a fresh cast of a hundred children every few months, and building them into a performance powerhouse.

These are not simple children's pageants, but properly staged, costumed, choreographed performances with complex sets and original staging. Each show is adjusted in rehearsal to fit the children cast in their roles, and every child in the chorus is given a moment to shine.

Carole is a master of what Larry Lessig calls 'Walt Disney creativity' - taking classic folk tales, and remixing them with contemporary cultural references to bring them alive for a new generation. Whether it is sly references to reality dating shows in Cinderella, with the stepsisters singing 'Material Girl', the apes singing Louie Louie in Jungle Book, or the replacement of the Indian song in Peter Pan with 'Colors of the Wind', each story is refreshed and updated.

So why am I writing about it now?

Despite its track record, its huge local support, the 100,000 cans of food it has generated in donations to the homeless, and the thousands of children whose lives have been improved by being part of it, the Young People's Theatre is under attack by the Parks and Recreation Department of San Jose city council.

Accordingly we have set up a support site at yptsupport.blogspot.com. We're seeing if the citizen journalism publishing tools of photos, weblogs and videos can make a difference.
Do please visit it, link to it and spread the word. Help us hold the local council to account.

And help make sure that future generations of children can experience this too.