Membership Spotlight – June 2026

I’m in the very early stages of development for a series of new Early Childhood & Family programs at New York City Center! City Center recently launched a 5-year strategic plan, and the Education & Community Engagement department was tasked with surveying our current programming and identifying any gaps.

I’m a mom to a 2 year-old and am constantly looking for arts-driven activities we can participate in as a family. City Center is housed in a historic building filled with beautiful architecture and a robust artistic past, and the strategic plan inspired me to get curious about the possibilities of making the space even more accessible to the littlest New Yorkers and their grown-ups.

While I’m a neophyte in this realm, I understand that there are so many organizations and independent artists already doing this work. So I’m currently trying to soak the wisdom and expertise of as many veterans in the field as I can, and use what I learn to inform City Center’s approach to this new audience.

The new musical Basura and the documentary Landfill Harmonic that it’s based on have recently made a major impression on me.

I was lucky enough to see a performance of Basura at the close of this year’s TYA USA conference, and I was truly blown away. The incredible story of innovation and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances really struck me, and the music and the casts’ voices were absolutely incredible.

The unexpected treat was the closing panel of the conference featuring Basura‘s composers, Gloria and Emily Estefan, and the surprise performance from current members of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura alongside their teacher Favio Chavez. As an educator, I admired the display of thinking outside of the box for the sake of arts education, and it gave me so much to consider in relation to my own relatively smaller barriers. And as a fan of music and musicals, I’m so thrilled I was able to have such a rich first experience with the show.

I’m really invested in looking at what it means to foster caregiver community through Early Childhood & Family programming. So many classes and programs I’ve participated in with my kiddo are solely focused on engaging the child – and understandably so! – and rarely (if ever) acknowledge the adults present. But what would it look like if there were intentional opportunities built into these experiences for the grown-ups to engage with each other as well?

Building and maintaining community connection can be difficult for adults, especially those who are full time caregivers, and I’m committed to exploring the possibilities for the “big kids” who bring their littles to future programs at City Center.

Theatre for Young Audiences was a gateway into the world of theater for me. I grew up in rural Arkansas and I distinctly remember seeing performances by visiting artists in my elementary school cafetorium and thinking, “I want to do THAT!”. Exposure to theater in school not only laid the groundwork for my journey into music and theater nerd-dom, it led me to an artistic career that has been so diverse and fulfilling. And my sweet parents – who have attended hundreds of thousands of performances over the years – are now major patrons of local performance as a result. So, I say TYA ALL THE WAY!

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with Patrick Thompson, a City Center teaching artist and multi-hyphenate artistic chameleon (composer, instrumentalist, actor, etc, etc) who has been instrumental in the visioning of Early Childhood & Family programs at City Center. Among his many talents, Patrick has the ability to hear the seed of an idea and almost immediately grow it into a beautifully scaffolded garden of possibilities. His work in early childhood development across multiple arts organizations made him one of my first conversations when I began dreaming about program creation, and I am continually inspired by the way he thinks and actualizes this work.

Tia Powell Harris is the VP & Artistic Director of Education & Community Engagement at City Center – and my amazing boss! Tia is the true embodiment of “yes, and” – no idea is too wild, no goal to ambitious. I’ve watched her continually push the boundaries of what’s expected of an Education department within a theater organization, and that has made me feel safe and supported enough to dream big. Additionally, being led by a Black woman in a non-profit artistic setting is unfortunately a rare occurrence, and I feel so lucky that I get to work with her and reap the benefits of her rich and varied experience as an educator, activist and spirit guide.

Check out City Center’s Education, Community and Career programs on our website at https://www.nycitycenter.org/education/about/. And folks can follow me on Instagram (@shaleahadkisson) and my website http://www.shaleahadkisson.com/.

The big project I am working on right now is launching a new company – Joy Play Heart Productions, which is dedicated to producing TVY in the DC metro area and serving as an incubator for new TYA and TVY scripts. This new company combines my two favorite things: new work development and theatre for the very young!

We will be producing our first show in the 2027-28 season and launching a new work development program that is custom designed for each individual playwright/creator and their specific needs. This new company is bringing me so much joy right now!

I have been watching a number of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival shows virtually – and just seeing the breadth of work has been inspiring. Antes de… by BRONKS and Compagnie Tea Tree features amazing physicality; Island by Frozen Charlotte is a gentle, light filled show for babies and WOW! by BronteHond uses simple props in such inventive ways. I can’t wait to see the rest of the line up! If you have not registered as a digital delegate for this festival, I highly recommend it

I am honored that my first project with Joy Play Heart Productions will be producing Fishing for Stars. I am thrilled to be working with the extremely talented co-creators of the piece: Megan Alrutz, Claire Derriennic, Sarah Jean Elliott, Renita James, and Xinyue Zhang. It is a non-verbal performance designed for an audience of children ages 2-6 and their caregivers, featuring beautiful projections, props that illuminate, and whimsical movement.

The show will be co-produced with a DC theatre company in spring 2027 and will tour nationally during the 2027-28 season.

My first job out of college was in TYA – I had just moved to DC, and I applied for a job, not expecting it to be a life-long career. I fell in love with TYA, and later TVY – it is magical to see children and caregivers interacting with the work, the performers onstage, and with each other. It is like no other theatre experience. It is filled with creativity, beauty, inspiration, and hope – I just can’t imagine doing anything else. I feel incredibly lucky to work in this field.

My two favorite collaborators are Megan Alrutz and Josh Streeter. Megan and I worked on several projects together at Arts on the Horizon (Point A to Point B and Outside the Lines) and now I am so fortunate to be able to work with her again on Fishing for Stars!

Josh and I started working together when he was teaching at James Madison University. We began a collaboration that connected the JMU TYA and Movement classes with Arts on the Horizon’s artists and shows. Since then, Josh and I have worked on two TVY shows (Birds of a Feather and The Laundromat Project), and now we are writing a book together!

Both Megan and Josh are such generous and kind collaborators – I learn so much from both of them and how they approach creating and devising TVY.

There are a number of individuals that influenced how I approach my work today: Jeff Hill, taught me how to approach every situation with diplomacy and calm; I learned how to guide a new work development process from Kim Peter Kovac; I strive to be as kind and generous as Max Woodward was with every artist he worked with; and everything I know about casting, I learned from Benita Hofstetter Koman.

I would love people to reach out! They can visit my website: joyplayheart.org.

​​This past year, my team and I really focused on community building at TADA! We made sure that if you were buying a ticket to a show or signing up for classes or camp, you knew that you were joining a community that has been around for over 40 years. We’ve seen amazing results in word of mouth referrals and retention rate of students, but most importantly we’ve gotten great feedback from families. It’s a beautiful reminder that mission driven work comes next to none in our field!

The babbly songs my 13 month old comes up with everyday. It reminds me of who we do this work for and they are always so incredibly catchy.

My dream would be to be able to provide free arts education to underserved communities and never have to worry about funding for it.

Arts education creates thoughtful and empathetic people and desperately need more of those in the world.  I was also incredibly fortunate where the arts were a constant in my life growing up and I believe it’s made me who I am today.  Every child should have the same opportunities I had – and more!

Yvonne Roen and I worked on this amazing gala campaign centered around a puppet. It was wildly successful and one of my favorite campaigns to date.

Melissa Robinette, the former first national vice president of Actors Equity, is someone I am so fortunate to call my friend and has been the most amazing example of advocating for a life you love and not settling for anything less.

LinkedIn or email! gruiz@tadatheater.com.