The Garden City High School drama department has been named a winner of the first round of the Unsinkable Molly Brown Grants. There are 16 schools that will be receiving $10,000 awards to produce Dick Scanlan’s updated version of the Meredith Willson musical in either 2024 or 2025. More grants will be awarded in spring 2024.
Applicants were asked to show plans to use the work as a tool to engage their school and community in the musical's themes, which include women's and immigrants' rights, community-building, and Molly Brown's civic-minded "share-the-luck" spirit.
"We are an extremely diverse community made up of immigrants from all over the world," wrote Alice Hilt, Thespian troupe director at Garden City High School. “Having a large percentage of first and second-generation immigrants, I believe Molly's story will resonate with the students and local population."
The grant was initially planned to be distributed to 10 schools, but overwhelming interest has allowed the program to extend with six additional grants in this first round. The program is run by the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF), The Music Man Foundation (TMMF), and Music Theatre International (MTI).
The first schools receiving grants are Aloha High School in Beaverton, Oregon; Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey; Brownell Talbot College Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska; Byng High School in Byng, Oklahoma; Clear Brook High School in Friendswood, Texas; Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio; Garden City High School in Garden City, Kansas; Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, Oregon; Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania; Lake City High School in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Maryvale Preparatory School in Lutherville, Maryland; Morris Area High School in Morris, Minnesota; Seaside High School in Seaside, California; Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Woodmont High School in Piedmont, South Carolina.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown tells the rags-to-riches story of Margaret “Molly” Brown—a turn-of-the-century hero of the underdog, champion of women’s rights, fighter for labor rights, advocate of immigration reform—and, most famously, survivor of the Titanic. The original version was Willson's follow-up to smash hit The Music Man, opening on Broadway in 1960 with Tammy Grimes in the title role. Molly Brown would prove to be a more modest success compared to The Music Man, running just two years and 532 performances. Debbie Reynolds led a film version in 1964. In the years since, the musical has been seldom performed.