Press Releases
Broadway Star Visits the Lowell Milken Center
Kimberly Grigsby, Musical Director of Smash Hit Spider-Man, to Collaborate with the Center
May 18, 2012
May 18, 2012 -- The staff at the Lowell Milken Center have always encouraged students to explore and retell the stories of unsung heroes through theatric performances. The Center’s most famous performance, Life in a Jar, is still going strong some 13 years and 300 presentations later. “Dramatic performances are powerful,” says Center Executive Director Norm Conard. “Performances allow our students to embody an unsung hero, and in that way students find out what inspired that person to do the amazing things they did.” This weekend, the Center will get a little help from Broadway. Kimberly Grigsby, musical director of the critically acclaimed and smash hit Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, will visit Fort Scott to spend time with Center staff and discuss their performance-based projects. Grigsby’s Broadway music directing and conducting credits include The Full Monty; You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown; and Twelfth Night. She holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and Manhattan School of Music. “Kimberly’s agreed to look at the performances we’re working on right now, and help us strategize about how to modify these performances for larger stages and audiences,” says Conard. “We’re going to talk about how to reach more people with these powerful stories, from inception to outreach.” Grigsby will also be meeting with some of the Center’s talented young actors to coach and advise them on the next step in their acting careers. Grigsby will take some time to tour the Liberty Theatre as well, to discuss the possibility of a bringing a Broadway performance to Fort Scott. “We’re really excited that someone of Kimberly’s caliber is going to take the time to work with us,” says Program Director Megan Felt. “She’s definitely a star maker.”