The work on the musical led to learning from over 80,000 audience members through post program surveys conducted over the course of seven years about the needs for eating disorder and mental health literacy and prevention education in schools and colleges. Through survey feedback from parents, students and educators we uncovered the 160 most commonly asked questions. My husband and I traveled the country filming national experts, researchers and individuals with lived experience who answered those questions for us in documentary film format. The documentaries that Tim and I created became health education models that have been published in peer reviewed medical journals alongside national experts and used to train thousands of health professionals about the seriousness of eating disorders and their co-morbidities.
How the Arts Build Resilience - Part 1
I wanted to share a series about the ways in which the arts can build resilience. For this weekend, I will start at the beginning ... back in the late 1990's and early 2000's.
At the time, I was a NYC producer and co-founder of Transport Group theatre company which is now celebrating its 20th year. My co-Founder and I came across (and produced) a musical, at the time, called NORMAL - about the true story of a family's journey with a mental health crisis -- a deadly eating disorder. We worked to write the school adaptation, curriculum, training guides, and eventually I would direct 200+ productions with more than 25 casts across the US. In the below version, we had the privilege of filming at the fabulous little Hub City Showroom in Spartanburg, SC with a cast made up of college students, graduates and talented performers from the community.
And I can't ever talk about NORMAL without mentioning the hundreds of artists, cast members and collaborators who contributed to the rock musical journey. Each human gave the project so much life, love and spirit.
I share this -- the power of one story -- because in these extremely trying times, we can't forget how community-building and resiliency building the arts are. There's so much more to tell, but I will leave it here for now.
That's the power of just one story ... imagine what will happen when you share YOUR story.
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