EMU Theatre for the Young Tour
What is Tour?
We're so glad you asked...
The EMU Theatre for the Young Tour was created in 1968 under the direction of professor emerita Thelma McDaniel with the goal of creating innovative and engaging ways to perform for first-time audience members and young people. Over half a century later, the EMU Theatre for the Young Tour still strives to meet that original goal as well as connecting students in southeast Michigan to high quality art for their age group. Currently housed in the Applied Drama and Theatre for the Young program at Eastern Michigan University, the EMU Theatre for the Young Tour operates on a semester basis. During a tour season, a production will be performed in schools, community centers, and libraries in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Livonia, and Plymouth to name a few.
Tales of Africa (1980)
Why should I book a tour for my school?
Another wonderful question!
The cast of Let Me Hear You Whisper (1990) engages in a talkback session with a classroom audience
Hare and Tortoise (Winter 2023) performs in a school gymnasium
The Theatre for the Young Tour focuses on arts integration and preparation, providing complementary Michigan CORE standards-aligned study guides to teachers to make the arts accessible to young audiences. With many of the students being first-time audience members, this accessibility is crucial in touring theatre. Research by The New Victory Theatre corroborates this assertion saying, “Our research shows that the more opportunities young people have to interact with and experience the performing arts, the more their interest increases” and “Exercises and experiences where students are invited to consider the inner lives of other people — whether characters on stage or classmates in the seat next to them — will be crucial to help mitigate and move beyond the social effects of COVID-19”.
EMU Theatre for the Young Tour
Land Acknowledgement
It is with reverence and gratefulness that we acknowledge and honor the land on which we gather, work, and live. The land on which Washtenaw County, the city of Ypsilanti, and Eastern Michigan University are situated has been historically, ancestrally, and presently occupied by the Anishinaabeg (including the Ojibwe [Chippewa], Odawa, and Potawatomi)and the Wyandot peoples. Furthermore, we recognize that this land—like a majority of the land of the United States—was obtained through inhumane and brutal ways from indigenous people and finalized in part by the 1807 Treaty of Detroit. Though this acknowledgement of the stolen land we benefit from does not change what happened in the past, the ongoing reflection on and recognition of the ramifications help us as we strive for a more inclusive, equitable future for all peoples.
Meet the Tour Team!
Josh Lococo
Business Manager, MFA candidate
Meriah Sage
Artistic Director, EMU Director
of Theatre
Avery Melroy
Stage Manager, MFA candidate