Mokena Junior High Students To Shine In 'Guys and Dolls Jr.' March 1-2

SUBMITTED BY MOKENA JUNIOR HIGH

MOKENA, IL — Mokena will see how a “bushel and a peck” of students from Mokena Junior High “can do” when students of the Mokena Junior High Meteor Music Department present the MTI Broadway Junior production Guys and Dolls JR. on March 1 at 7 p.m., and March 2 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Lincoln-Way Central High School Charles R Stark Center for Performing Arts located at 1801 East Lincoln Highway, New Lenox.

Tickets cost $5 and may be purchased online or at the door.

Guys and Dolls JR. is part of the MTI Broadway Junior Collection, MTI’s special collection of
musicals for younger performers which includes “JR.” titles, 60-minute musicals for
performance by middle school children; and “KIDS” titles, 30-minute musicals for performance
by elementary school children.

Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls follows Salvation
Army crusaders and high rollers from the streets of Times Square to Havana and back again.
Nathan Detroit, who is permanently engaged to psychosomatic showgirl Miss Adelaide, will be
forced to fold Detroit’s Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game unless he wins a
bet from slick high roller Sky Masterson. When Sky gambles that he can woo any “doll”
Nathan counters that Sky will not be able to convince an up-right but up-tight missionary
named Sarah to go to Havana with him. Sarah finds the rakish Sky very resistible at first, but
eventually both Sky and Sarah teach each other a lesson on winning.

"From Sky Masterson, Miss Adelaide and Sarah, to their fellow gamblers, performers and crusaders, Guys and Dolls is filled with so many well-loved characters. We applaud these students for their hard work in creating the world of this musical and the characters that populate it. We think they deserve a standing ovation from the community for all of their work," says Gary Gershon of MTI.

More than 50 MJHS 6th, 7th and 8th Graders have been working hard for the past few months
under the direction of Megan Marshall. Seasoned eight graders lead key roles including
Connor Maves as Sky Maserson and Ethan Lopez as Nathan Detroit. Gabby Jackson
plays Sarah Brown and Carly Tully as Miss Adelaide.

Marshall is passionate about music education via performance opportunities
for all children through choir, band, orchestra and musical theater. She holds a Bachelor in Music Education degree from Lawrence University and a Master of Music degree in Choral
Conducting from Northern Illinois University. Her work as a music teacher for ten years in both
public and private schools, as well as 15-year season in full-time church music ministry, has
given her the opportunity to hone her skills as an educator, conductor, director, administrator and volunteer coordinator for many performances and events. She is also a full-time educator at a K-8 public school in Richton Park, Illinois where she teaches general music classes and co-conducts the 85-member Inspirational Choir with her school’s principal.

Guys and Dolls JR. is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. MTI is one of the world's leading dramatic licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the US and in over 60 countries Worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special
collections for younger performers. The MTI Broadway Junior Collection® includes “JR.” titles,
60-minute musicals for performance by middle school children; and “KIDS” titles, 30-minute
musicals for performance by elementary school children. MTI School EditionsTM are musicals
that have been annotated for performance by high school students, and the Theatre For
Young Audiences (TYA) Collection are 70-minute musicals designed for adults to perform for
children.

Other titles included in the MTI Broadway Junior Collection include Roald Dahl’s Willy
Wonka, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Godspell, Into the Woods, Schoolhouse Rock
Live!, Once on This Island, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, Honk!, The Pirates of
Penzance, Seussical and Dear Edwina. Once schools acquire the dramatic performing rights
for a nominal fee, which includes mandated royalty payments, they receive a “ShowKit” of
materials designed to help guide both cast and crew through a successful production. The kit
includes a fully orchestrated CD to accompany the cast, a choreographic DVD, curriculum
guides that tie important themes of the musical into classroom studies and a producer/director
guide for teachers on casting, rehearsals and performance techniques and scripts.

Through its partnership with Disney Theatrical Productions, MTI has released educational
versions of popular animated and live-action movies including: Disney’s Aladdin, Disney’s
High School Musical, Disney’s High School Musical 2, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,
Disney’s Mulan, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Disney’s Cinderella, Disney’s 101 Dalmatians
and Disney’s The Jungle Book. More stage adaptations are currently in development and all
will be provided exclusively through MTI.

For more information on the MTI Broadway Junior Collection or Music Theatre International,
please call (212) 541-4684 or go to www.BroadwayJr.com or www.MTIshows.com.